Welcome to Litsy!

I am grateful that this book exists, and that its choice for #PersephoneClub led me to read it, if somewhat belatedly. It's not easy or comforting reading, especially at this particular moment, but I feel like it will stay with me for a long while.

Purchased in the famous blackwells in Oxford - fantastic place a must visit if your ever in Oxford the literary walking 🚶‍♀️ tours and book 📚 shopping not to be missed !
#blackwells #persephone
#oxford #oxfordbookshopping
#literarywalks
#persephonebookclub

I will echo @LeahBergen comments abt how hard this was to read as the depiction of life in wartime seems to suggest that the world has learnt little over 80yrs. This series of letters written to her children by Tilli a woman living in hamburg 39-46, + discovered in the 70s is heart-rending, particularly when her + the city's ⬇️
#Persephoneclub @Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @quietjenn @CarolynM @elkeOriginal @jlhammar @Gissy @Aimeesue @Tamra

In 1974 Ruth Evans found a manuscript package of letters that her mother had written in Germany in WW2: unsent letters to her adult children in far-flung areas of the world describing daily life in an upper middle class household in Hamburg.

This was a bit of a hard read at times (and especially with the current news) but I think it‘s an important eyewitness account from “the other side” about the ravages of war.

#PersephoneClub

This collection of unsent letters is a treasure. An absorbing account of daily life in Hamburg during WWII and its immediate aftermath. I love history and have read some about the wartime experiences of average German citizens (I‘ll tag some good ones in comments below), but these letters added something new, helping to bring that time and place into sharper focus.

#PersephoneClub

Ooof 😣 This is either exactly the right time to read this raw personal account of the war years in Germany or exactly the wrong time.

Tilli‘s letters encapsulate all of the human and inhuman complexities of war. I have no more words - just feelings all over the place. #Persephoneclub

This selection is taking on an even more depressing aspect given the current state of affairs in Ukraine & Israel. I‘m feeling rather pessimistic about human progress. #Persephoneclub

Most of the #Persephone books I have read are set in Britain and between #PersephoneClub and #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub I feel we have read a good number of WW2 novels set in the UK. So I was interested to see Persephone published this title of a German woman‘s letters during the war and am excited to dive in with the group read. Afterward, maybe I will finally tackle the fatty in this pic that is a British staple of the war as well: Few Eggs 🥚🍊

It‘s now October so that means it‘s time for one of our #PersephoneClub reads!

@elkeOriginal ‘s pick for us this month is On the Other Side by Mathilde Wolff-Mönckeberg. This is a casual buddy read; read and comment on each other‘s posts and reviews as you see them. We usually aim to finish by the middle of the month but that‘s not written in stone. ? And anyone is welcome to read along with us, of course!

I really appreciated this fascinating (tho fairly narrow) account of an anti-Nazi German woman living through WW2. In letters to her children, she recounts the cold winters, lack of food and fuel, and the bombing of Hamburg. I found it off-putting that there was only brief mention of concentration camps and their victims, but the letters written in the post-war months, trying to reconcile a way forward for Germany and its citizens, were powerful.

Inspired by brilliant book ideas on #Litsy, I ordered these from Persephone - they‘re obviously going to be fascinating reads, and they‘re so beautifully made!