Ripple Effect: Because Of The War

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The ripple effect of World War Two, good, bad and ugly, spread far and deep in Britain.

Between the wars was a time of indulgence and liberation for many women in London. Veronica, a social worker, feared she would be too old to marry or ever bear children until she met Richard a handsome RAF pilot. They fell in love and the fear of war pushed them to marry fast. She was childless and jealous of her sister Rachel who produced an illegitimate child from an unknown father.

The Blitz bombing from the Germans left much of the city in ruins. Londoners valiantly survived the privation. Veronica arranged for the evacuation of Rachel’s daughter Susie, before the onslaught. She lived with Veronica. Rachel, presumed killed by a bomb in the Blitz, so Susie grew up thinking Veronica was her mother and the absent Richard her father.

Veronica, similar to many other women left alone, learned new survival skills with the deprivation of rationing. She learned to love Susie as her own. Loneliness, with war-forced separation from her husband, took a toll on her. She found solace elsewhere, an affair she kept secret.

When the war ended Richard returned to a wife and an adopted child he barely knew. They struggled to adjust to each other. Richard’s alcoholism and outbursts of aggression, as side effects of battle fatigue, began to alienate Veronica and Susie. The truth emerged about Richard’s issues, and Veronica’s and Rachel’s guilt and secrecy. Compassion for each other softened the anger. The family began to reconnect and forgive.
This is a story of women surviving and thriving despite adversity.