Autobiography
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In her memoir When we Lived at Primrose Hill Diana Farmbrough lovingly recreates her childhood experience of living at Finchers, Primrose Hill, her family home in rural Buckinghamshire as part of a large extended family, going on to recall the dramas and tragedies of her life.
She tells of the everyday life in the countryside, playing in the road with five stones, hopscotch or skipping and venturing further afield to collect frogspawn; there’s shopping trips to Wycombe before supermarkets existed; and she gives a vivid account of her schooldays and Christmas from times past.
We have a view from the family kitchen as a procession of colourful local characters bring deliveries of milk, post, grocery, bread, meat, laundry, greengrocery, and ice cream on Sundays. As Diana and her sister Mary grow up, they watch Dad, Pete, and Mum, Sybil, find creative and practical ways to enhance their happy family life.
There are carefree and amusing times when Pete buys a car and petrol comes off the ration. The family follow King George VI’s death and Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and plan to put souvenirs in a time capsule.
Diana also goes further back in time to stories of her great grandparents and their resourcefulness in overcoming national events beyond their control.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
I loved this book; it was an unexpected joy. I absolutely devoured it and finished it in a few days. Diana made her family history come alive. It was inspired to include handwritten maps and family trees. These both added greatly to the experience and took me to very specific times and places described in the book. When reading about Uncle David's brick shed, I could see it so clearly - and picture the game hanging up and smell the oil. The garden party photograph really tugged at my heart strings - so bittersweet a record of a happy event and deeply treasured family relationships, but also a reminder of how quickly lives can be changed forever. This beautiful book is a wonderful document of Diana's life as a young girl.
Diana’s book is a delight. It’s well written, with charm, warmth and humour, and for those of us of a certain age – it has a wonderful feelgood factor, prompting reminiscences about our own childhood. As I turned the pages, I frequently found myself smiling and nodding because her narrative struck a familiar chord. There’s sadness too, but it’s gently and sensitively handled. There’s also a murder. The book is very well presented in hardback, with an attractive dust jacket – Diana has produced a book that is a pleasure to hold and read. RB, Editor, Chiltern Society Magazine
