Dear Jelly: Family Letters from the First World War
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By Sarah Ridley
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1 review
The moving story of two brothers who fought in the First World War through the real letters, complete with hand-drawn cartoons, they sent to their sisters. Like so many families across the world, the Semple family were split apart by the First World War. While William and Robert were fighting the Germans in France, their younger sisters, Mabel and Jelly (Eileen), had to carry on with school back in England. To keep in touch, they wrote letters. The sisters treasured these letters, which gave snapshots of their brothers’ lives as soldiers. Many of the letters included cartoon illustrations to amuse the sisters.
The book presents these letters with their illustrations. After each letter the author has written a short commentary, drawing out the facts about the war that can be taken from it. Altogether the book is a powerful and moving record of one family’s experience of the First World War and a moving read for readers aged nine and up.
A powerful, moving record of one family’s first-hand experience of the First World War. – Education Today
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I particularly enjoyed reading this and will be thinking about it for a while to come. The illustrated letters written by two brothers fighting in France in the First World War to their sisters are full of warmth and humour. The contextual information gives further insight into the experiences they mention, in much more detail. The book avoids sensationalism and mawkishness, much in the tone of the letters, leaving the reader to linger on the impact the war had on the Semple family, and the macro experience as a result.
