Shirley Williams

Early (for a Sunday morning) I went with friend Sarah to see Shirley Williams, an MP pretty much revered in our household when I was growing up. She was invited as part of the Cambridge Literary Festival, and was talking about her mother Vera Brittain a pacifist and feminist who wrote a war memoir, Testament of Youth (1933), which describes the impact of the First World War on the lives of women and civilians.

We read the book in our book group a few months ago, (well.....tried to read, it's quite heavy going...)

Although we were there to hear about Vera I was most struck by Shirley who is quite a remarkable woman herself. Although small and frail at aged 84 she was interesting, thoughtful and articulate and it was fascinating to hear her talk about her own memories from so long ago. It reminded us all how much has changed in her lifetime, (especially for women).

Interesting venue, the Cambridge Union Chamber and as you can see by the demographic Sarah and I were amongst the youngest there ....by about 20 years!