Where shall we run to?

This memoir by the author, Alan Garner, provides memories of a collection of incidents that occurred in his childhood in Cheshire during the Second World War. Alan Garner was born in  October 1934 so he was almost five at the commencement of the war. As well as memories of his schooldays and friends at this time there are frequent references to the war - wearing gas masks, fathers being away from home, children evacuated from Guernsey to Cheshire, finding unexploded devices.

Alan Garner describes life in the area around Alderley Edge where he grew up and where his family lived for many generations. Many of his books are set in this area of Cheshire and the chapter, Widdershins, provides a description of the region with many familiar names for readers of his books. Descriptions of some of the locals in the village plus the school staff are also provided. We also learn a little of the early childhood of Alan Garner including stays in hospital due to illness. He was, however, an inquisitive child who enjoyed the freedom of exploring his terrain, often with a friend.

The last three chapters of the book provide an update to stories told during the main section of the work. All in all this short work provides an account of life in part of rural England during wartime as well as an insight into the early life of an English author.

Interview - Alan Garner 'I just let the voice settle and I listened' (The Guardian 5 August 2018)

Review - Vignettes of a bygone English childhood (The Spectator 2018)