Our Street

Our Street

East End Life in the Second World War

Summary

Step into the everyday lives of East End Londoners during the Second World War

'I wanted to write about a time and a place when living in such a street - or rather a community - would have been part of so-called ordinary working people's everyday experience, but when the circumstances couldn't exactly be described as normal.'

What was life like during WWII? Away from the battles? On the street where you live?

Gilda O'Neill's Our Street takes a look at the world outside of the war. Told through the daily rituals of those living in London's East End, it shares the concerns, hopes, fears and sense of community that grew during tremendous hardship.

The perfect companion to Gilda O'Neill's bestselling My East End, this is an important book and an affectionate record of an often fondly remembered, more communal, way of life that has all but disappeared.

'A rich tapestry . . . a finely detailed examination of our not so distant past. Her book is as much a piece of history as the accounts it contains' Time Out

'Every page is a delight. Every chapter made vivid by a writer who has poured heart and soul into her book' Daily Mail

About the author

Gilda O'Neill

Gilda O'Neill was born and brought up in the East End. She left school at fifteen but returned to education as a mature student. She wrote full-time and continued to live in the East End with her husband and family. Sadly she died on 24 September 2010 after a short illness.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more