Seeing Through Savernake: Living a British Life During World War II

Set foot in Savernake Forest in pre-WW II England and wander with the young and practical Peggy Wharton as she learns about her homeland and recounts it for you in detail. Wharton vividly narrates her observations for us in remarkable detail and tells us about her fellow students at Marlborough Grammar School including William Golding (Nobel Prize winning author of Lord of the Flies) who, she recalls, “races expertly in the mud.” The home is a relaxed setting and casual as Mrs. Wedgewood, matriarch of the centuries old Wedgewood pottery family, visits her father’s marquetry shop to marvel at his fine craftsmanship and purchases his handmade furnishings. Margaret H. Wharton provides us with delicate and fascinating details of her life on The Downs in pre-war Wiltshire, England. She superbly describes her understanding of the landscape of England and her descriptions are so vivid and unique that ‘Bill’ Golding found himself “enlightened.” Wharton uses her very keen memory and sharp literary skill to tell us a story that has not been told before. Read about the transformation of a young English school girl from Marlborough, England, who becomes a World War II G.I. War Bride in post-war America.