{"product_id":"the-view-from-the-corner-shop-the-diary-of-a-yorkshire-shop-assistant-in-wartime","title":"The View From the Corner Shop: The Diary of a Yorkshire Shop Assistant in Wartime","description":"Author: Hey, Kathleen\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781471154010\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Simon \u0026amp; Schuster UK\u003cbr\u003eYear First Published: 2016\u003cbr\u003ePages: 352\u003cbr\u003eDimensions: 7.795 inches x 5.118 inches x \u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDescription: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA lively diary chronicling the ups and downs of running a grocery shop in a Yorkshire town during the rationing years of the Second World War\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n Kathleen Hey spent the war years helping her sister and brother-in-law \u003cb\u003erun a grocery shop\u003c\/b\u003e in the Yorkshire town of Dewsbury. From July 1941 to July 1946 she \u003cb\u003ekept a diary for the Mass-Observation project\u003c\/b\u003e, recording the thoughts and concerns of the people who used the shop.\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n What makes Kathleen's account such a \u003cb\u003evivid and compelling read\u003c\/b\u003e is the\u003cb\u003e immediacy of her writing\u003c\/b\u003e. People were pulling together on the surface ('Bert has painted the V-sign on the shop door…', she writes) but there are plenty of tensions underneath. The \u003cb\u003eshortage of food\u003c\/b\u003e and the extreme difficulty of obtaining it is \u003cb\u003ea constant thread\u003c\/b\u003e, which dominates conversation in the town, more so even than the danger of bombardment and the war itself.\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n Sometimes events take a \u003cb\u003ecomic turn\u003c\/b\u003e. A lack of onions provokes outrage among her customers, and Kathleen writes, 'I believe they think we have secret onion orgies at night and use them all up.' The Brooke Bond tea rep complains that tea need not be rationed at all if supply ships were not filled with 'useless goods' such as Corn Flakes, and there is a long-running saga about the non-arrival of Smedley's peas.\u003cbr\u003e\n \u003cbr\u003e\n Among the \u003cb\u003echorus of voices\u003c\/b\u003e she brings us, Kathleen herself shines through as \u003cb\u003ea strong and engaging woman \u003c\/b\u003ewho refuses to give in to doubts or misery and who\u003cb\u003e maintains her keen sense of humour \u003c\/b\u003eeven under the\u003cb\u003e most trying conditions\u003c\/b\u003e. A vibrant addition to our records of the Second World War, the power of her diary lies in its \u003cb\u003ejuxtaposition of the everyday and the extraordinary\u003c\/b\u003e, the homely and the universal, small town life and the \u003cb\u003ewartime upheavals of a nation\u003c\/b\u003e.","brand":"To order - ships in 1 to 3 months","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42469738250398,"sku":"HPC-9781471154010","price":29.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/products\/9781471154010.jpg?v=1677726942","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/the-view-from-the-corner-shop-the-diary-of-a-yorkshire-shop-assistant-in-wartime","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}