Book: Miss Carter’s War

Having written several popular memoirs about her life, her relationship with husband John Thaw and about life after widowhood, Sheila Hancock has turned to her first novel. Her memoirs proved she could write, but can she invent a narrative and tell a story?

Miss Carter’s War is an episodic novel that follows the sweep of history from the Second World War through to Mrs Thatcher and the poll tax riots, taking in the swinging ’60s on the way. After her experiences in the resistance in in France, Miss Carter wants a new start and to influence young minds for the better.

She forges a friendship with another teacher, and they try to battle against the difficult circumstances of some of their less fortunate pupils. They are politically engaged and want to change the world.

There are some real people in the book — forward-thinkers about teaching or addiction, and this feels like Hancock nailing her social justice principles to the wall — but at no time does it feel preachy. Miss Carter’s War is a very human book.