In the Act of Being Led from One Thing to Another

I love storytelling. First, in books. Second, on a screen, small or large.

Last night, I watched a movie, Housewife 49. It's the story of a family in England during World War II. I could make one picky little negative comment (why bother with the people from the MO? They were a distraction) so I'll have to give a grade of A+ rather than A++. It's well-written, well-acted, and drew me deeply into its quiet sufferings and joys.

Nella Last is the main character and she was a real person. I had to look her up, of course. She was a housewife and at age 49 she began to keep a diary and send entries to the MO. The war was just beginning. She had two sons of age to fight. Her town was bombed by the Germans.

As portrayed in the movie, Nella found her voice when she began to write, and she continued to write all of her life. The war changed Nella--and I must think that writing changed her, too. The movie used quotes from her diaries and if the sampling is representative, I must now find a way to get hold of the her diaries. Lovely, lovely natural talent.

I mentioned the MO. That stands for Mass Observation. According to Wikipedia, the MO was a social research program in Britain. People were encourged to send in information about their lives and their day-to-day observations.

Can you say blog? Can you say Facebook? Can you say storytelling?

Must go. I need to be led to another thing now.