We Learnt About Hitler at the Mickey Mouse Club: A Childhood on the Eve of War
By (Author) Enid Elliott Linder
Icon Books
Icon Books
1st June 2021
8th April 2021
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
941.084092
Paperback
288
290g
Enid Elliot Linder was the daughter of a butler and a lady's maid in service in some of England's grandest country houses. Evoking the lost world of a childhood 'below stairs', Linder's touching memoir describes how her life changed as Britain headed towards war.
After the family moved to a Marylebone tenement, her father sought work in London restaurants whilst battling personal demons. Meanwhile Linder's aunt was nanny to a high-ranking member of the British Union of Fascists as they grew in influence.
In a photorealistic and immensely charming narrative reminiscent of Patrick Hamilton, Linder evokes the sights and smells of prewar London - and of lonely Cornwall, to where she was unhappily evacuated - in a way that will appeal to fans of Downton Abbey. A unique personal account of a tumultuous time.
Enid Elliott Linder, who died in 2007, was an artist specialising in silhouette drawings. She left her memoir to her niece Elaine Cox, a lecturer at Oxford Brookes, who promised to assure its publication.