Flora Twort’s War

The wartime diary of a Hampshire artist.

Excerpts from the diary of a woman artist who moved from London to the country town of Petersfield in Hampshire after World War I and, with her artistic circle, opened a bookshop there in the interwar years. During the Second World War she manages to live a normal life, to keep the shop running, to continue exhibiting her artwork and to keep up with friends and community, despite the constant threats of air raids and her volunteer work as an ambulance driver.

Among her friends is Nevil Shute, aircraft designer, become famous novelist, who twice proposed to her and was refused before the war. Now married to Frances with a family, he stays a close friend and neighbour. Flora remains a free spirit, with a somewhat eccentric reputation. She is devoted to Dr. Harry Roberts, his partner and their circle of friends, where they live in the countryside near Petersfield. At weekends she retreats to the mill she has restored on the coast.