Lilla Eckford, interned in a Japanese civilian camp in China during the second world war after an extraordinary early life, passed her time by compiling a book about the joys of food. This cookery book blends together personal history, world events, period atmosphere and family anecdotes into a poig[...]

'Bea treads carefully on the thick carpet, quite deliberately like a servant. Her elder sister, Clemmie, tells her that it is "not done" to worry about being heard but Bea enjoys this oh-so-silent rebellion against convention. She teases back, "This is the twentieth century, Clem, things are about t[...]