Sylvia’s Story

This is Sylvia’s story, one of four true stories from the book GI Brides.

The room was filled with GIs – some playing pool, some jostling for control of the jukebox, and others taking doughnuts from a silver machine in the corner – while half a dozen young women rushed around serving them. ‘So, what can I do?’ Sylvia asked, keen to get stuck in.

Sylvia is volunteering at a Red Cross Club in the West End when she meets a charismatic Irish-American called Bob. He sweeps her off her feet and convinces her to fly to America to marry him after the war. But living with Bob’s gambling relatives proves a nightmare, and in desperation Sylvia runs away to England, giving Bob an ultimatum…

Sylvia’s story is extracted from GI Brides, written by the bestselling authors of The Sugar Girls. It captures the memories of the thousands of women who crossed the Atlantic for love after the Second World War.

Reviews

‘Apart from the strength of the individual stories, one of the richest things about this book is the detail: the atmosphere on the rackety old ships which took the war brides across the Atlantic; the hideous, humiliating medical inspections they had to endure before being deemed fit to enter the USA; the dreadful anxiety of waiting for men who had promised to meet them on arrival, but didn’t show up…’ Bel Mooney, Daily Mail

About the author

Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi are the bestselling authors of The Sugar Girls, which chronicled the stories of young women working in Tate and Lyle’s factory in the East End of London.

Duncan studied English at Cambridge and is a writer and editor, specialising in biography and memoir. As a journalist, Nuala Calvi has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Express, the BBC, CNN and numerous Time Out guides.