A Chelsea Concerto

For all my fellow Blitz Lit fans out there: have I found a book for you! This thrilling memoir of WWII London is written with such immediacy and attention to detail that I swear I could hear my heartbeat while reading about some of the more harrowing "incidents" (as those nonchalant Brits referred to death and destruction). Faviell, a well-connected professional portrait painter, was in the thick of it, Chelsea being relatively hard hit, and because she volunteered as an assistant nurse, emergency telephonist, and interpreter/caretaker for the Belgian refugees in her neighborhood. She is awed by the humor, bravery, and know-how of those who endured the nightmarish scenes, but she’s also aware of intermittent despair and loss of empathy in herself as well as others. Her account feels like such a classic of the genre I’m amazed it was only brought back into print in 2016 after its initial publication in 1959. And I’ve already ordered another reissued Faviell memoir, The Dancing Bear, set in the city where she moved with her young family in 1946—Berlin!