BERTIE, MAY AND MRS FISH: Country Memories of Wartime

by Xandra Bingley

A lyrical, evocative and wonderfully original wartime memoir about life on a farm in the Cotswolds, seen through the eyes of a child. ‘Bertie, May and Mrs Fish’ is Xandra Bingley’s account of her childhood on a Cotswold farm, set against the backdrop of World War II and its aftermath. Bingley’s mother is left to farm the land, isolated in the landscape, whilst her husband is away at war. With its eccentric cast of characters, this book captures both the essence of a country childhood and the remarkable courage and resilience displayed by ordinary people during the war. The beauty and sensitivity of Bingley’s observation is artfully balanced by the harshness and grit of her reality. ‘In the cowshed my mother ties her hair in a topknot scarf that lies on the feedbin lid. At five-thirty each morning and four o’clock in the afternoons she chases rats off the mangers. She measures cowcake and rolled oats and opens the bottom cowshed door. Thirty-one brown and white Ayrshires and one brindle Jersey tramp into their stalls…’ ‘Two thousand acres. A mile of valley. Horses cattle sheep pigs poultry. Snow above the lintels of the downstairs windows. Her fingers swelling. Chilblains. Her long white kid gloves wrapped around a leaky pipe in her bedroom. Knotted at the fingers. She has a lot to learn and no one to teach her. Accidents happen.' Bingley tells her tale in a startling voice which captures the universe of a child, the unforgiving landscape and the complicated adult world surrounding her. Her acute observation, and her gift for place, people, sound and touch make this a brilliantly authentic and evocative portrait.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a good story here trying to get out but utterly ruined by the irritating style of writing.

[SillySuzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe this is a nice story if you are into horses or if you were a child during and after WWII and grew up at a large farmhouse with eccentric parents and went on hunting parties. I couldnot relate very much to this story and this was hampered even more by the strange writing style: some full sentences, but often only parts of sentences with lots of dots in between. Just brushstrokes, mere impressions of what happened. You never get the full story, never get to know what really goes on in the protagonist's head. Not my kind of book. I did finish it, though, which is nothing short of a miracle really :). On the back cover, it was said that the final chapter would move me to tears, well, it didnot. Concerning the title of this book: I donot understand why Mrs Fish is mentioned. Her part in the story is only minor (or I must have missed something?). There are lots of photos in the book, but whithout captions, so sometimes you havenot the slightest idea what you are looking at. I did like the little drawings, though.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many ellipses, too little story.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't be put off, as I was, by the slightly fey title. This is a charming autobiography of the childhood years of Xandra Bingley. She was privileged by birth, certainly, but it didn't prevent her early childhood, during the war, from being tough. Her mother, though scarcely raised to such a life, gave herself up to running a large farm since her husband was away at the war. She milked, cared for animals, from cattle to her always beloved horses, did all the practical jobs of which there's never any shortage on a farm, and managed the landgirls and the accounts. Xandra, a fairly isolated child, was simply expected to muck in, and muck in she did.

Her father appears part way through the book as a jovial and somewhat eccentric product of his rather blinkered upbringing. It's fair to say he'd never have voted a Labour government in.

Xandra Bingley's observations, her feeling for people and places and animals and acute memory of telling moments make this a delightful and interesting memoir.

[Hilary Tesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A misleading title - there's very little about Mrs Fish and, since Xandra was only three when the war ended, most of this memoir does not refer to wartime, as the sub-title suggests. It's written entirely in the present tense, one memory leading to another in a fairly haphazard way. I quite liked that and found the memoir all the more interesting because we pass the farm en route to Bristol to visit our daughter. There's a lot about horses and the hunting life - all very unfamiliar - and politically incorrect! - these days. Only in the last chapter are we given a fuller picture of the relationship between the author's parents and, like the rest of the book, it's recalled unsentimentally. Interesting, but not a book I'd bother to reread. (Charity box)

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great observations but sometimes a bit rambling & too much in the vein of "stream of consciousness" s which made me mark it 1 star less than top 5. LOVED LOVED LOVED however the interview with the author at the end and her list of top 10 books to read & did enjoy the photos through the book; although it would have been nice to have a picture glossary at the end IF you wanted more information on the photo shown. Good read overall.

[Andrée · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me nostalgic for a life/time that I've never experienced.
Much more fun & interesting than my own child hood (not many ponies in Brixton).
My father was similar to Bertie though - charming but hard to live with.

[Anne Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a mix for me. - as a child growing up in the 1950s I could identify with quite a lot of her early childhood - the clothes, the food, the drinking in the evenings encouraged by the Dad (especially the pseudonyms fir a tipple!) and the amazing freedom she had hitch included being added to walk over to an older wi and house to be minded
I was also intrigued by how hard her mother had to work - all the time , including breaking ice in the cows’ water vessels on cold days with a blowtorch
And how little they had
What I found much more difficult was the half of the book devoted to horses and, worse, to fox hunting . It was quite interesting to read what was done and how they dressed but their entitlement was really objectionable . It made it much clearer for me how privileged the family was .
Post war trauma was also fascinating especially that we all as children met a number of people struggling with this, either directly or via our school friends describing their fathers and/or other male relatives screaming in the night. I remember that being an often used excuse for lateness at primary school .

[Jayal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an odd book, as books go. A girl grows up in wartime English countryside, with an eccentric father often absent on war duty, and an extraordinary mother who by herself gets a farm up and running from scratch.

The prose is quite unique; terse, abrupt, and flitting. The pictures drawn are most of the time too specific so as to be meaningless to an outsider. It seems more a private memoir than a personal story shared freely with the reader. Didn't really enjoy it, but it was undoubtedly a change.

[Barbara Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Xandra Bingley's early years growing up in an Elizabethan farm house during and after the second world war. It is a delightfully told child's eye view of the family's eccentricities and the ups and downs of farm and village life during that period. It's a disingenuous snapshot of the often dire effects of war upon everyone's lives, whether they are well to do, like Xandra's family or the village people, struggling to get by.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it, didnt think it would be my kind of book when i saw it was about horses and stuff, but enjoyed how the author described the relationships and how they coped with wartime

[Erica Smythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

What characters! Quite a childhood Xandra had. Well written and interesting.

[Sue Sargent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sweet story. Odd writing style

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a few times. Definitely around 2006 and a few years later perhaps. Reading again in 2020 to see if it’s as good as I remember.

~~~

Unsentimental, with bells on! Do not read if you’re of a nervous disposition since it’s got some upsetting images in here of animals being badly treated or injured.

Surprised about the review tag in the book saying you have to have a heart of stone if you don’t cry at the last chapter -who are they trying to kid? There are so many gaps and omissions that you can see that there is a shadow already cast. I won’t say any more so as not to put any spoilers.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author grew up in the Cotswold during the 2nd World War and she made her childhood sound fun and interesting. Her parents were from a background of money, polo, debutante and public school but they weren't afraid to get their hands dirty and work hard.
The story was a bit disjointed at times and confusing but it still was an enjoyable read. I would love to show this book to one of my clients as the father had an army background and travelled to overseas embassies. My client was based at various embassies for 10 years or more.

[Persephone Abbott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the loose connectivity of the writing style, the book had its charms. One was that it was believable, and not prone to overelaboration. Despite my rating, the memoir somewhat fascinated me and I kept the book for future reference, instead of giving it away.

[Deena Simmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy it. The book was too horsey and I got bored with it.

[Zarabeth Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost unintelligible in parts. In which every adult is at most dismissive and at worst abusive - rather than the gentle tale of a childhood in wartime that its promoted as being it's a muddled mess.