From There to Here: War, Peace, Pandemic - A Memoir
With the need to find an engrossing project to fill the isolation forced on us by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, From There to Here recalls the author's childhood growing up in England during World War II. Wyllie compares the many restrictions imposed on our lives today with the hardships endured by the British during the war. Set against this backdrop, the book describes the author's early life, boarding schools, university, marriage to an Arctic explorer, and a three-year sojourn in America. The book ends with the anticipated birth of Wyllie's first child, making this story a prequel to her previously published Loving Andrew: A Fifty-Two-Year Story of Down Syndrome.
Endorsements
This evocative memoir is a peek into a past that the author always manages to make relevant to the present. Her lively and engaging style transports the reader on a journey through childhood in wartime, growing up and falling in love in post-war Britain, and a coming of age sojourn in the US. Vividly recalled events, along with many fascinating historical links, make this a very enjoyable read. It is also a timely book with many parallels to life today.
Jan Fox, Journalist, Index On Censorship magazine.
Spurred on by the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 and the similarities in daily life for British people during World War II, Romy Wyllie's personal story––beginning with the 1940 Blitz––discloses many fascinating nuances of British culture unknown to Americans during the second half of the 20th century or even today.
Beverly Russell, author Deadline Diva and 15 books dedicated to aesthetics.
Romy Wyllie has written an exquisite memoir. From her early childhood to WWII and the disruptions it brought to her life in Britain, Wyllie takes us step by step through her personal experiences all the way up to the COVID-19 pandemic. We learn about her secondary school days during the war, university in Scotland, her marriage to an Arctic explorer, and a three-year stay in America. The details chronicle a life well-lived so far, with all the richness you would expect from a historical memoir. A wonderful prequel to Loving Andrew: A Fifty-Two-Year Story of Down Syndrome. A pleasure to read!
Lisa Rojany, Editorial Services of L.A.