Frances Donaldson: A Woman's War: Letters to a Soldier in the Second World War: 1 - Tapa blanda

Female farming in "The War". A laughing, crying, gripping, writer-to-be's letters to her husband through five long years of separation. She, a famous playwright's daughter from high society turned farmer, responds with candour and can-do to male dominance in the cowshed and the realities of the woman's land army volunteers. A moving must-read of feminism two generations before its time coupled with the real smell of Britain before and after Dunkirk. The fear and the relief. --Sir Robert Boyd

This book has everything. Frankie the person who wrote most of these letters to her husband whilst he was serving in the Army abroad became a writer and farmer. But it was hard, really hard as it was difficult to find good farm workers and added to this she was a single mother to two fascinating children whose antics made me laugh out loud. Rose Deakin ties it all together beautifully and the whole compilation is enhanced by numerous black and white photographs. --Mrs G M Graham Maw

I have found Rose Deakin s collection of her parent s letters totally fascinating. As the present owner of Gypsy Hall Farm, it is bound to be a subject which interests me, but these are no ordinary letters, they are written by a master of her art and her words kept me spell bound throughout the whole book. --Alan Brookes

One woman’s World War II. From silk stockings to mud and gumboots. Can she win this battle?
These letters inspire determination and endeavour in everyone.
With her soldier husband, Jack, away fighting the war, with 2 young children to care for, Frankie bought a farm and determined to live off it. Could an emotionally fragile young mother survive the ordeal?
During 6 long years of war, she learned to farm, battling with the antagonism of the men she was trying to manage while coping with small children and no money. War was a test of relationships, character and endurance.
A Woman’s War tells how she conquered WWII. A motivational tale from riches to rags, from joy to sorrow, and, at the end of the war together again with Jack, rejoicing. The book is illustrated with letters and contemporary photographs. Read this inspiring story and share her trials today.
Frances Donaldson would not have called herself a feminist, but her strong aspirational character, independence and determination make this almost a feminist tract, showing in detail how much a woman can achieve in difficult circumstances. She not only showed determination but took on physical tasks which most modern men would find difficult. She overcame the opposition of the members of the man's world in which she found herself and rose to top the ranks of farmers in the war, to be invited to broadcast to Britain and America and to write 2 books about it - working at night after a full day's hard activity on the farm. Her letters to her husband Jack are sometimes tearful, often sad but in the end the letters of a fighter, a perfectionist and an inspiring achiever.