A broken engagement in unhappy circumstances brought P.M. Rooke’s parents together.

After serving at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I, her father was depressed and suffering from a shoulder wound. Once he was released from military service, he went back to working in fashion, becoming the manager of a large department store.

It was there where he met the author’s mother, who was working at the store.

While her parents never married, they did spend nine years together, separating at the beginning of World War II. Classified as a single woman, the author’s mother was directed to work in the British Small Arms factory. She was one of many to step up to fill the jobs of men who left to fight in the war.

Life during the war was difficult – and when it ended, it did not get much easier for a single woman trying to raise a daughter with little financial help.

Join the author as she reflects on the life of her mother, who was kind, generous, and suffered so much.