A powerful and deeply personal account of one family’s experience during the Second World War, this richly researched memoir follows love, loss, and courage on both sides of the Atlantic. Illustrated with photographs and documents, it brings to life the extraordinary journeys of ordinary people in remarkable times.
✓ From Dunkirk to Burma and beyond
✓ A transatlantic story of love and duty
✓ Ordinary lives in extraordinary times
✓ Carefully researched and richly illustrated
Check out the blurb:
In this intensively researched war story of the author’s family, we also hear the stories of other ordinary people who survived extraordinary circumstances. Richly illustrated with photographs and documents, “Both Sides of the Pond, My Family’s War: 1933 – 1946” is a captivating book.
This book is available in paperback & hardback at Amazon UK & Amazon US
Barbara Kent Lawrence
Dr. Lawrence is the author of many articles and nine books, including an award-winning dissertation about the influence of culture on aspirations in Maine. Her new book, Both Sides of the Pond, My Family’s War: 1933 - 1945, is available in book stores and on Amazon.
A former professor, she has taught courses in anthropology and sociology, research, and writing non-fiction and memoir. Lawrence grew up in New York City and Washington D.C., then earned a BA in anthropology from Bennington College, an MA in sociology from New York University, and an Ed.D. in Administration, Policy and Planning from Boston University.
In addition to teaching, Lawrence has worked for the Department of Social Services and the Housing Development Administration in New York, directed a small museum in Maine, co-run a brokerage and construction company, consulted for the Rural School and Community Trust and KnowledgeWorks, and started four non-profit organizations supporting the environment and students.
When not working she loves to garden, knit, and go for walks, pastimes she learned from her British mother. She lives in Maine and is working on the third novel in her Islands series.
I’ve always felt that the most powerful stories are the personal ones, the kind that come down through families rather than through history books. They remind us that behind every campaign or headline there were ordinary people trying to carry on with their lives. My great-great-grandfather served during the Second World War and I'm told he rarely spoke about it, he was at Dunkirk.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad. What he must have seen.
DeleteThis sounds like a really interesting story—family histories from WWII always make that period feel so much more real. The idea of following two relatives on different sides of the Atlantic during the war is fascinating. I’m curious, while you were researching your family’s history, did you come across anything that really surprised you or changed how you saw their experiences?
ReplyDeleteImagine being a woman in this era and learning to fly a plane, as well as being an actress and a nurse, and dating a Kennedy. May I ask how are the related to you?
ReplyDelete