Joy Street: A Wartime Romance in Letters

by Mirren Barford, Jock Lewes

A correspondence between Mirren Barford, a twenty-year-old Oxford University student, and Jock Lewes, a lieutenant in the Welsh Guards who co-founded the S.A.S., follows the years during which he served in World War II.

361 pages, Unknown Binding

First published June 15, 1995

Reviews

[Bevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a love story, told in the fashion of a relationship slowly unfolding through the actual letters that were exchanged during WWII between a twenty-year-old Oxford University student and a lieutenant in the Welsh Guards who co-founded the S.A.S. The letters convey much of the times they were written in: the social expectations between men and women, the rudimentary technology compared to today, the realities of an ongoing war...yet they also exhibit the timeless flavor of heady young love that revels in infatuations and romantic prose tied up in the constant pressure of pure hormonal desire that is forever stymied by the conservative expectations of the time period. Some of Jock Lewes missives to Mirren could leave a woman breathless; men should take note on how to write a romantic letter. This book made me often smile in amusement as I realized that no matter how much changes over the years, when it come to love and romance, nothing really ever does.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told solely in letters between the protagonists with the minimum of commentary, this tells the affecting love story of Mirren Barford and Jock Lewes during the second world war. At the start she is just 19 and at Somerville, Oxford and meets Jock at a friend's wedding. The letters chart the beginning of their flirtatious friendship which deepens into passionate love.

In some ways this is a similar trajectory to Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth and the letters in Letters from a Lost Generation, with some of the same feelings of almost arrogant innocence at the start mellowing into something much harsher as the war progresses. However the morality of the second world war rather than the first intervenes in very different ways, and this is far more an individual story that Brittain's which also charts the loss of an entire generation.

Despite much having been made in the publisher's blurb about Jock's role in the formation of the SAS, there is barely a mention of the war in his letters which are internalised, often religious and idealistic in lots of ways. But his feelings for Mirren are heartfelt and sincere, especially at the start where his feelings are far deeper than hers.

Given the plethora of books telling the public face of WW2 this is a fitting personal monument that is set during the war but is, in many ways, not quite of it.

[SlushTurtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this off of a bargain book table. It is such a sweet, romantic tale. If you can get your hands on a copy, you are sure to enjoy it!

[Bethan Evans-Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a beautiful read. Poetic, romantic, full of metaphor and completely heartbreaking - especially toward the end. Certainly not an easy read, as Jock in particular has a wonderful but sometimes complicated way with words. You cannot help but feel you’re intruding on something so very private and intimate - but nonetheless, I have loved reading it.

[Susan Janneck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Would highly recommend.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too slow. It was difficult to know what they were talking about at times; there were a lot of inside jokes. Skipped ahead to realize John dies in the end. It wasn't the type of book I was looking for at the time.