A London Family Between the Wars

1940, first edition of life in Cuffley in the 1920s & 1930s

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, first printing. Hardback in dustwrapper. 21.5 × 14.5cm, 180pp

This humorous account of a family growing up in the rural environs of London in the 1920s and 1930s is a sequel to Molly Hughes's autobiographical trilogy, "A London Child of the 1870s", "A London Girl of the 1880s" and "A London Home in the 1890s". The book takes up the story of Molly as a widow, with very little money and three sons to educate. On the strength of her teaching experience, she becomes a schools inspector and examiner, a job which provides a rich source for anecdote. She moves her family to Cuffley, then an unspoilt rural village 15 miles from Kings Cross. Born and bred a Londoner, she is elated to find that, incredibly, the garden of their first house affords a view of St Paul's. The amenities of Cuffley are few, but hold charm for the modern reader. "The Times" arrives by bicycle; necessities, from sugar to doormats, can be bought from a hawker with a pony-cart; and telephone calls are made from a local farmhouse. The story that unfolds is an undramatic one about ordinary people. There are adventures, but of the homely kind—an evening at the "talkies", the move to a new house, the excitement of the first grandchild.

Condition

A good reading copy. The book itself has tanned pages but remains in strong readable condition. The dustwrapper is rather tatty with tanning to the spine and chips to all edges but is now within a protective sleeve.

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