We Went to England

A vivid, often humorous slice of autobiography, We Went To England spans the Atlantic Ocean—Rochester, New York to London, the Great Depression and the second World War. Children of an American mother and an English father, Elaine and her sisters have a privileged, sheltered life—more akin to the world of Jane Austen than that of Angela's Ashes. Elaine, though, finds there is always a BUT. You have to learn to be a Lady. To obey a set of rigid rules—what's "done" and "not done". Too many of the rules she learns only after breaking them.


With the War in 1939 everything changes. Being a Lady is no longer so important—surviving is. There are gas masks, air raids, bombs and the constant fear of death.



After September 11, 2001, Elaine's story has fresh relevance. As a young girl she learned that in the presence of constant low-level fear, life goes on—and so do laughter and purpose.