Jan 21, 2010

WFA, Avon Branch Talk – Vera Brittain

I went to my first WFA meeting at the Avon Branch in Kingswood last night to hear a talk given by Michelle Young on Vera Brittain in the Great War. Despite a mad dash to get there in time and arriving with literally a minute to spare I was made very welcome and really enjoyed the talk. As I sat there listening a good amount of the detail of Vera Brittain’s life came back to me – I had read her work, Testament of Youth and the Letters from a Lost Generation ‘First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends’ edited by Alan Bishop and Mark Bostridge over ten years ago.

The loss she endured through the war, losing her fiancée Roland Leighton at Christmas 1915, two friends Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow in 1917 and her own brother Edward in 1918 does not even bear thinking about. Michelle clearly had empathy with the subject and had visited many of the locations associated with Vera’s life as well as the graves of men she had known. Despite being a member for some time it was my first visit to a WFA talk and was a great experience. Having received a list of talks planned for 2010 I look forward to further visits.

One Response to “WFA, Avon Branch Talk – Vera Brittain”

  1. Michelle Young says:

    Thanks for the kind comments Jeremy; I’m treading the boards again in November in Llandudno


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