Letters from the Suitcase by Rosheen and Cal Finnigan is a collection of letters from Rosheen’s parents when they were separated during WW2. Rosheen was given them by her elderly mother and they revealed to her much that she hadn’t known about her father and the relationship that her parents had. I like books which are about events in WW2, particularly factual books, and I do enjoy all sorts of stories told in letters and diaries. I am not sure when, or where, I picked up this book and I am beginning to think, because it is in such excellent condition, that I may even have bought it new – if so, it was so long ago that I have totally forgotten about it.
Rosheen’s parents David and Mary met in 1938 in London. They were both members of the Communist Party and were progressive thinkers, for their time, about society and the world. They enjoyed films and books and seem to have both spoken French well enough to write in it and quote from French as well as English literature. They both had jobs, David was training to be an accountant and Mary worked as a secretary. Although they didn’t see why they should, they married in 1939, just six weeks before the beginning of the war, to satisfy family pressure.
For most of the war Mary and David were apart – David eventually travelling to Madagascar, Africa and India. These letters chart their relationship from its start, through difficult separations in the UK when Devid was posted to various towns, and they include letters sent when they were separated by oceans. During this time Rosheen was born and the couple were together for nearly a year in Swansea when she was very young, but Mary was left to manage her child and the family finances alone while David served as an Intelligence Officer. In 1943 David died of smallpox in India so these letters are all that remained of him for his wife and child.
There are, apparently, over 300 letters and thus these have been selected to give us an insight into the relationship and the issues of a young couple in wartime. Because of the fact that not all the letters are included, some went astray and some have since been lost we sometimes learn a little bit about an event in the lives of this little family which isn’t followed all the way through, but mostly this is a coherent narrative and a very interesting one. Occasionally, however, David and Mary did meet or talk to one another on the telephone so sometimes you don’t get the full story or understand all the references – although the compilers have done their best to provide the information you need to know what is going on.
Apart from the portrayal of the couple’s relationship, this collection of letters shows us, in some detail, what it was like for young people at this time. There are a lot of problems finding and keeping accommodation. Travel is expensive and often very difficult. Communication sometimes fails when letters are late or don’t arrive. Mary wants a career as well as a child and finds this difficult to achieve. Money issues are prevalent throughout the book. This gives a snapshot of what life was like for ordinary people at this time.
You know from the beginning that David dies and this makes some of the letters very poignant as the couple plan for the future as a family, after the war. As they grow further apart geographically their romantic natures come to the fore and there are many protestations of eternal love which are quite difficult to read in the light of what happens.
I enjoyed reading this book, as I obviously thought that I would when I obtained it. I shall shelve it with my other WW2 memoirs.
Anne Is Reading 