Engaging Miss Laura

Engaging Miss Laura explores the life and times of a young woman living in mid-Victorian Plymouth. In her letter to the editor of the Western Morning News published in the inaugural edition of 3 January 1860 she asked if an Engagements column might be included besides the traditional Births Marriages and Deaths. The charming and persuasive correspondence touched on a number of contemporary issues and these are explored in greater depth in the book. By interweaving different historical elements - personal local national and international – the significance of the period 1859/60 will be appreciated. The letter was simply signed LAURA. But just who was Laura and what impact if any did she make on her times? The story reveals a lost social world a physical world that would largely be destroyed by the Plymouth Blitz and sheds light on the life of the Engaging Miss Laura.