When I was a kid, I read a lot of stories set during World War II. I read the Molly books, part of the American Girls series, which began in 1944 and traced Molly’s life through the last year of the war. I remember the Victory Garden her mother grew, the homemade Halloween hula-girl costumes (worn with sweaters because the night was chilly), the patriotic Christmas tree, the English girl , Emily, who came to stay with Molly’s family.
A little later, I read Number the Stars (which still makes me cry), The Diary of Anne Frank and others. World War II loomed large in my perception of American and world history – maybe because the U.S. entered it earlier and was involved for longer than it was in World War I.
I also read lots of stories set during the Civil War, the Great Depression, the “pioneer days” (a la Laura Ingalls Wilder and Janette Oke), and set in more modern times, like Nancy Drew, The Baby-Sitters Club and others. But for some reason, I don’t remember many stories set during or after World War I.
Until lately. My reading and viewing material this winter has included several stories set at the turn of the 20th century, during the First World War or amid its aftermath – Rilla of Ingleside, Downton Abbey, Maisie Dobbs. Somehow I’d missed an important piece of my literary education – the war known as the Great War before it was the “first” one, which came after years of belief – almost laughable to me now – that there would never be another war. Even the earlier books in the Anne of Green Gables series echo this sentiment; Anne says, “It seems so strange to read over the stories of those old wars…things that can never happen again.” (And Gertrude Oliver, in Rilla of Ingleside, sees the other side of the coin. About a Wordworth poem, she remarks, “Its classic calm and repose and the beauty of the lines seem to belong to another planet, and to have as little to do with the present world-welter as the evening star.”)
We in the 21st century have plunged from a century marked by world wars into one marked by many smaller wars, with a multitude of voices disagreeing about our country’s proper role in each one. The news of one war doesn’t envelop everyone’s lives, the way it did during both World War I and World War II. And it’s certainly not as though we don’t expect conflict. It’s all around us – in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other places – most recently Tunisia and then Egypt.
I’m often astonished at the naivete of the characters in World War I-era stories – do they really think the war will be over by Christmas? Don’t they see that this conflict will change their lives forever? But then, I have the benefit of hindsight, as does Maisie Dobbs, who solves tricky cases in 1920s and 1930s London. And while she knows better than I do what a mark the Great War left on everyone, I am grateful to have these stories, which chronicle the lives of ordinary people facing a conflict that brought change they never imagined. I admire their bravery, their unflinching devotion to duty, family and country, in the face of a nightmare which came up with the suddenness of a summer squall. I grieve for their losses as I turn the pages, and I am always reminded of Jem Blythe’s words near the end of Rilla of Ingleside:
We’re in a new world, and we’ve got to make it a better one than the old. That isn’t done yet, though some folks seem to think it ought to be. The job isn’t finished – it isn’t really begun. It will be the task of years. […] It isn’t enough to drive out the old spirit – we’ve got to bring in the new.
Wise and challenging words from a lieutenant of the Great War, who along with his family and comrades truly embodies bravery. I’m inspired and humbled – by his story and by these others – every single time.
cakes, tea and dreams 
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson is a really great historical YA set at the dawn of WWI. It explores the war through an entirely different perspective…that of a girl who has to prove her own homestead in rural Montana. But the war is there, too.
There was another book about a girl working at a hospital during WWI that I loved when I was a kid, but I can’t remember the title for the life of me. I think that WWII is way more accessible, if that’s even the right word, because it affected SO MANY people, whereas a lot of people were in denial about the import of WWI as it was happening. It was a real loss of innocence.
I love Hattie Big Sky, and how the story adds another layer to the history. They say history is written by the winners. In this country, that usually means rich, Christian, white men. Seldom do we see or hear the stories of other socio-cultural groups.
Maybe another reason we know so much more about WWII is that we were able to hear first-hand accounts from people who were there. My grandfather’s stories of leaving Canada for England to serve with the RAF are brave, humble, and harrowing. We didn’t write nearly enough of them down while he was still with us.
I don’t remember many WWI books either, though I very much remember the Molly books and Number the Stars. WWII was so captivating for a young reader for some reason. Right now I’m interested in 1920s and Depression era books lately. One on the horizon is A Secret Gift (How One Man’s Kindness–and A Trove of Letters–revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression). Have you heard about it?
Alisha, the author of A Secret Gift actually teaches at Emerson College, my new employer – so yes, I have heard about it! I haven’t read it yet, though.
On Depression books: do you know Julie, by Catherine Marshall? I love that one. Or Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry? Totally different setting, but a powerful Depression-era story.
Katie, I think this is an important post. You mention how we have moved from the larger (international) wars to smaller wars with conflicted opinions on involvement. There were those same conflicted opinions in America early in WWII. American soldiers were forbidden from serving with British forces before US entry into that war – many left through Canada to make their way to England, living and dying as heroes in service. It was many years before they were legally “forgiven” for their disloyal acts. Quite a contrast then, many years later when draftees escaped to Canada to avoid service in a conflict they could not support.
On another note, the wars and genocides in Africa have been largely under the radar until very recently – these are some of the most bloody and violent in history. Had those wars occurred in predominantly white (European) nations, or had those wars not involved resources the developed world has made precious (cobalt, copper, gold, diamonds, coltan – used in our laptops and mobile electronics), there might have been greater censure on those regimes.
Sorry – that’s a bit of an off-topic rant. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the concept that until all are free, none of us are truly free. Literature, especially that from disenfranchised voices, gives us an opportunity to look at our history in fresh ways.
I have read Julie and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, though I must admit many years have passed since then. I remember loving both. 🙂 That’s cool that the author of A Secret Gift teachers where you’re working. And very cool that you’re getting paid to write.
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