Mrs. Tim Carries On

<p><em>There is so much War News in News Bulletins in Newspapers and so much talk about the war that I do not intend to write about it in my diary. Indeed my diary is a sort of escape from the war . . . though it is almost impossible to escape from the anxieties which it brings.</em></p><p>Bestselling author D.E. Stevenson’s charming fictional alter-ego Hester Christie—or “Mrs. Tim” as she is affectionately known to friends of her military husband—was first introduced to readers in <em>Mrs. Tim of the Regiment</em> published in 1932. In 1941 Stevenson brought Mrs. Tim back in this delightful sequel to lift spirits and boost morale in the early days of World War II.</p><p>With her husband stationed in France Hester finds plenty to keep her busy on the Home Front. From her first air raid and a harrowing but hilarious false alarm about a German invasion to volunteering at the regiment’s “Comforts Depot” guiding the romantic destinies of her pretty houseguest and an injured soldier and making a flying visit to a blacked-out slightly bedraggled London with its fighting spirit intact Mrs. Tim does indeed carry on—in inimitable style.</p><p>Mrs. Tim returns in two subsequent novels <em>Mrs Tim Gets a Job</em> (1947) and <em>Mrs Tim Flies Home</em> (1952) all back in print for the first time in decades from Furrowed Middlebrow and Dean Street Press. This new edition features an introduction by Alexander McCall Smith.</p><p>“She admirably preserves her lightness of touch with a tinge of melancholy added which perfectly suits the mood of 1940.” <em>Glasgow Herald</em></p><p>“This is not merely a war book to which cheerfulness keeps breaking in it is a book of cheerfulness from which the war cannot be kept out . . . Major Tim’s amazing escape from Dunkirk is high drama superbly handled and her word pictures are both lifelike and lively.” <em>Manchester Evening News</em></p>