Nella Last's Peace

Patricia and Robert Malcolmson are social historians with a special interest in Mass Observation. They have edited several MO Diaries, including Nella Last's Peace (2008) and Nella Last in the 1950s (2010), and are currently writing a social history of the wartime Women's Voluntary Services. They live in Nelson, British Columbia.

A vivid, intimate account of life in austerity Britain. Superb. -- David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain A touching and startlingly frank portrait of adapting to life in post-war Britain. Truly fascinating. I enjoyed it as much as Nella Last's War. Gilda O'Neill Nella Last's Peace is extraordinary - tender, intimate, striking, heartbreaking and witty - it grants us the lovely and dignified privilege of knowing a stranger's heart. A. L. Kennedy Compassionate, gossipy, observant - Nella Last's long-awaited Peace Diaries deserve to be read not only for their intimate insight into the dislocated post-war world, but also for their continued portrayal of Nella herself. She is brave, lovable and a born writer. Virginia Nicholson Nothing could have been more 'ordinary' than the life of Nella Last, a middle-aged woman living in the north-west of England in the Attlee years, ground-down by ration books, post-war exhaustion and an uncertain future, and yet her eye for detail and penetrating interest in the people around her make her diary a social document of extraordinary interest and value. -- D. J. Taylor Advance quote Nella's eye for detail and penetrating interest in the people around her make her diary a social document of extraordinary interest and value. D J Taylor The diary has a certain universal quality that transcends the particular time and circumstances. My gut feeling is that Nella will come to be seen as one of the major twentieth-century English diarists. -- David Kynaston Woman's Hour It's not necessary to read Last's first volume to become immediately absorbed by her honest and heartfelt story. -- Nora Krug The Washington Post Nella Last may be the most prolific writer you've never heard of. It's not necessary to read Last's first volume to become immediately absorbed by her honest and heartfelt story. -- Nora Krug Washington Post