A Schoolgirl’s War: The Story of a Kent School in World War Two (Signed)

First edition, first impression.  Signed and inscribed by Mary Smith, the author, on the title page. 48pp, with plentiful colour illustrations.  Illustrated stiff card covers.  Slim 4to.  A little gentle edge wear to shelf worn card covers  Internally neat, clean, bright and tight.

During the second world war at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, art teacher Miss Helen Keen recorded significant moments of school life in wartime in a vivid and evocative scrapbook of paintings and drawings.  Many of these pictures are reproduced in this volume, enhanced by moving and often surprising recollections of ‘old girls’ (in their 80s and 90s when the memories were collected).  Together these provide a unique account of the lives of schoolgirls during the war: the underground lessons, the gas masks, the bombs and doodlebugs. It is a story of hardship and resilience, of disruption and fear, and of friendship and hopefulness for a future peace.