Her detailed 600-page record of life on the home front, from the point of view of an average Londoner, was reprinted by Persephone Books in 1999 and is appreciated by social historians.
She studied history at Birmingham University and became a teacher at the Poggio Imperiale, the former Summer Palace of the grand dukes of Tuscany.
[3] In the early 1930s she lived in Notting Hill Gate and, as well as fire watching, was a staff member in the local charity, The Sanctuary.
[7][8] The diary entries recorded international, national, local and personal events in what has been described as an unflappable and inspiring manner.
'[2] The book has been described as a classic, ‘that still rings vibrant and helpful today... a heartwarming record of one articulate woman's coping with the war.