Research Catalog

Just a larger family : letters of Marie Williamson from the Canadian home front, 1940-1944

Title: Just a larger family : letters of Marie Williamson from the Canadian home front, 1940-1944 / Mary F. Williamson and Tom Sharp, editors.
Author: Williamson, Marie, 1898-1969.
Publication: Waterloo, Ont. : Wilfred Laurier University Press, c2011.
Supplementary Content: Table of contents

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 12-2288	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

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Description

xxii, 378 p. : port.; 24 cm.

Summary

"The Second World War had been under way for a year when Marie and John Williamson welcomed two English brothers to join them for the duration of the conflict. Marie and John, who lived with their own two children in a small house in north Toronto, had met the boys' mother, Margaret Sharp - a distant cousin of Marie - just once. Nobody had any idea how long the war would last. What were they getting themselves into? Nevertheless, all Canadians, Marie was convinced, wanted to do their bit for Britain.
Marie wrote over 150 letters to Margaret Sharp between August 1940 and May 1944, imagining that she could make Margaret feel she was still with her children. She shepherded the boys through education decisions and illnesses, eased their adaptation to a strange new life, and rejoiced when they embraced unfamiliar winter sports. The letters brim with detail about food shortages and rationing, family holidays, the family's efforts to cope with the financial implications of two extra mouths to feed, their involvement in their church, and the games and activities that kept them occupied. Marie's letters reflect the lives and concerns of a particular family in Toronto, but they also reveal a portrait of what was then Canada's second-largest city during wartime.
Although many aspects of daily life went on as before, and the children attended school and took part in other activities, the family made many sacrifices. Supplies of coal and wood were diminished, and citizens were subjected to blackouts, air raid exercises, and gasoline rationing.
The preface is by Mary F. Williamson, Marie's daughter, and Tom Sharp, Margaret's youngest son. The book features a scholarly introduction by Jonathan Vance that puts the letters in historical context. Compelling reading for the general reader, this book provides important material for scholars of social history and life writing."--pub. desc.

Series Statement

Life writing series

Uniform Title

Life writing series.

Subjects

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats (note)

Also issued in electronic format.

Call Number

JFE 12-2288

ISBN

9781554582662 (bound)
1554582660 (bound)
1554583233
9781554583232

OCLC

662578653

Author

Williamson, Marie, 1898-1969.

Title

Just a larger family : letters of Marie Williamson from the Canadian home front, 1940-1944 / Mary F. Williamson and Tom Sharp, editors.

Imprint

Waterloo, Ont. : Wilfred Laurier University Press, c2011.

Series

Life writing series

Life writing series.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Formats

Also issued in electronic format.

Connect to:

Table of contents

Added Author

Williamson, Mary F.

Sharp, Tom, 1931-

Research Call Number

JFE 12-2288

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