Jan 2026
A Life Shaped by War, Community, and Time: The Girl from West Littleton by Anne Smith
An evocative memoir of wartime birth, rural childhood, and the enduring rhythms of an English life
The Girl from West Littleton: A Wartime Birth, Village Childhood, and the Seasons of a Life by Anne Smith is published on 22 January 2026, offering readers a quietly powerful memoir rooted in wartime Britain and the changing landscapes, social, emotional, and physical of the twentieth century.
Born during the Second World War in the small Gloucestershire village of West Littleton, Anne Smith recounts a childhood shaped by rationing, close-knit community life, and the unspoken resilience of ordinary people living through extraordinary times. With warmth, clarity, and reflective insight, Smith traces her journey from village girlhood through adulthood, charting how place, memory, and time intertwine to form a life.
More than a personal story, The Girl from West Littleton is a social history rendered through lived experience. Smith brings to life a rural England that is rapidly disappearing, capturing seasonal rhythms, domestic rituals, and the subtle codes of village life. As the memoir unfolds, it explores universal themes of belonging, change, loss, and continuity, making it resonate far beyond its specific setting.
Written with elegance and emotional restraint, the book will appeal to readers of memoir, wartime history, local and family history, and those drawn to reflective life writing that values detail and truth over nostalgia.
The Girl from West Littleton: A Wartime Birth, Village Childhood, and the Seasons of a Life is available in paperback and eBook formats from 22 January 2026 and can be purchased via Amazon and book retailers.
Book Details:
Title: The Girl from West Littleton: A Wartime Birth, Village Childhood, and the Seasons of a Life
Author: Anne Smith
Publication date: 22 January 2026
ISBN: 978-1789635675
Available from: Amazon and selected retailers
For author interviews, or further information, please contact:
📍 Millbrook Lodge, Moorfield Road, Brockworth, GL3 4EX
📞 01522 405782