As a fan of the Maisie Dobbs books I was happy to see that Jacqueline Winspear was writing a memoir and I was not disappointed. Born to parents from South London and raised in the county of Kent, so much that appears in her books seems to flow from her life and those of her parents. Growing up, she had a life that mirrored the advancements Great Britain had after the war. She was a recipient of the National Health Service and other services that became available to ordinary people, including a college education (not to mention a grant that allowed her parents to put in an indoor bathroom!). As an American Baby Boomer, these services seem strange but I was a recipient of the same amenities, just provided in a different format.
Great Britain might have provided more help to its less well off citizens after the war but that didn't mean that they didn't work and work hard for all of their gains. The stories of her parent's early married life and the lessons that have clung to Jacqueline Winspear make for fascinating reading. Tales of her extended family as well as her parents and her brother tell a story of love that the author feels to this day and is a part of her life. This was a wonderful memoir.

Enjoying Winspear's Maisie Dobbs serieds, I was interested in reading her memoir. As she writes in the final pages of the book, many will wonder why she included and left out incidents during her life. And as her brother says, it is her memoir, so he trusted her to tell her story. And an interesting story it is from her childhood illness, migrant farm work, and a large boisterous family to her life in CA. At the heart of it all is the complicated relationships she has with certain people. Isn't that true of us all?

I have loved reading all the Maisie Dobbs books and was intrigued to read this account of her childhood. She spent most of her childhood living in rural Kent where her parents mainly worked on farms and money was tight. She seems to have had a marvellous relationship with her father. Her mum was a complicated person and wasn't always particularly nice to Jacqueline. I think her mum was a bit jealous of the opportunities Jacqueline had and bitter about hers. That said, it was a very good account of life in rural Kent on the 1950's.

I don’t usually read memoirs and especially not from an author that I haven’t actually read any of her novels before. The subject matter of her memoir which was about growing up in England after WWII intrigued me and I am really glad that I read this. It was a really good read and I really enjoyed how she went back and forth from telling us about her parent’s childhoods to when they met to their experiences living in London and being barely teens during WWII and dealing with the blitz in London and how that impacted them. Jacqueline ended up with secondary ptsd from her mother telling her from a very young age all about her experiences during WWII sometime in more detail then she should have been told at her young age. Her grandfather on her dad’s side was injured during WWI taking shrapnel and had shellshock and how her dad was shaped growing up in a home where they needed to be quiet as not to trigger their dad. It was really interesting to have her describe how she lived on farms growing up with her little brother and how it was like living in the Victoria era which no electricity and no bathroom in the house. How she ended going to college for something she didn’t actually want to be which was a teacher to how she dealt with the deaths of both her parents with her brother by her side.
This was just really good and I definitely can get why Jacqueline Winspear is drawn to write about WWI with her family being impacted by the Great War and WWII.

Thanks to Soho Press and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

Jacqueline Winspear's memoir offers the stories of her grandparents, her parents, and her childhood in post World War 2 rural England. The privations suffered by England are hard to imagine for those of us who grew up in prosperous postwar America. Housing was in short supply and in the country, telephones, indoor plumbing, and even electricity were luxuries beyond the means of the working class. Everyone had to work as soon as they were able to contribute what they could to the survival of the family. Jacqueline learned to work hard without complaint always with her eyes on the end goal. Her hard work earned her a full scholarship to college, which in turn led to travel abroad, a career in journalism, and her first novel.

Many of the experiences of her grandparents, her parents, and her relatives and neighbors found their way into the Maisie Dobbs novels and it was interesting to learn the history behind many of the characters and events in the novels. Winspear listened carefully to all the stories of the past and has incorporated them beautifully into her books.

This book was a fantastic read. We learn about the lives and struggles of Jacqueline’s parents during WWII. I loved it. It also drew me in because I could recognize the stories she used from real life and worked them into the Maisie Dobbs books.

This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing is a glimpse into the heritage and creation of a wonderful author, as Winspear grows up with her parents and brother in rural England during the 50s and 60s. Winspear shares both madcap and poignant stories of her nuclear and extended family, giving insight into the humor and hardships that shaped her imagination and formed a tremendous work ethic. She shares her mother's gift for storytelling, revealing a bond that is tempered and tested by the vagaries that sometimes beset mothers and daughters, making them by turns allies and enemies. Conversely, the mutual adoration between Winspear and her father and their shared love of nature is reminiscent of that between her most beloved characters Maisie and Frankie Dobbs. In essence, this memoir reveals the seeds Winspear's family have planted within her that bear fruit in the tremendous stories and characters she creates.

Interesting memoir from the author of the beloved Maisie Dobbs series. Winspear's idyllic upbringing conjures sepia and kodacolor images of England's countryside. A story of family, love and country. Recommended..

Jacqueline Winspear has given us a delightful and heartwarming memoir with This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing. In it, she shares stories of her childhood and of her parents’ upbringing as well. The book feels as if the reader has been invited to curl up and get comfortable while Aunt Jackie shares her memories. Even as she details the family’s many difficult times and the complicated relationship she had with her mother, it’s clear that love and optimism overcame all.

Fans of her Maisie Dobbs series will find themselves drawn back to scenes from those books, and any reader who is looking for something uplifting during this difficult year will find a balm in this one.

To be upfront, I am not a fan of memoir or autobiographies. There has to be a really great reason for me to want to read this genre. I'm not saying they shouldn't be written or people shouldn't read them, but there can be bias to wanting to show yourself in a good light; which is totally understandable.

So, why did I read this book? Especially considering I've never read any of Jacqueline Winspear's book. Well, above it states I received this through NetGalley and <em>Library Journal's </em>Day of Dialog. During this virtual conference, there were panels with the authors of upcoming books. I attended one, not really realizing it was centered around memoirs until I was in it. I decided to stick with it.

I became fascinated with all three books by these women, including Jacqueline Winspear's "This Time Next Year We'll be Laughing." She begins her story with her parents and continues on throughout her childhood Kent. Winspear reveals the joys and hardships of her family's history. She discusses the tough topics of her grandfather's shellshock, her mother's evacuation from London during the Blitz. Along with her soft-spoken, animal lover dad, who was assigned to an explosives team during WWII, and the years her parents spent living with Romani Gypsies.

This was an eye-opening book not only to this woman's life but also to people's lives post-WWII. Winspear is shockingly frank and deftly restrained as she reveals the family history in such a way that I felt like I was reading fiction at times instead of a memoir.

This actually made me want to read her Maisie Dobbs series, and I started listening to the first Maisie Dobbs on audiobook this past week.

One big draw for me in deciding to read this book was her title. She explained during the panel that her dad had this saying, "this time next year we'll be laughing." It was a mystical phrase said by Winspear's dad. Through all the bad times we're experiencing now, don't worry, this time next year we'll all still be here, clutching our sides, laughing.

This book was delightful and comforting in this troublesome time. It felt good to take a trip into the past and remember, along with the author, a simpler time. Times were just as difficult then but with a much easier pace and a knowledge of what was possible to attain. Keeping in mind that Jacqueline Winspear wrote the "Maisey Dobbs" mysteries, its not a stretch to know that you will love this book. I received a galley from NetGalley and was pleased to read and review this book.

Having never read any of Winspear's novels, I had no preset expectations for this memoir. Having said that, I loved it! Although this is a memoir the history flowed in such a fantastic way, I felt as though I were reading a historical fiction novel. Winspear really sets the stage with her descriptions and frankness in which she tells her family history. An amazing memoir I know I will reread in the future.

Whether or not you have read Winspear's mysteries, this memoir is an absorbing portrait of a family - London parents who discovered life in the country and managed with much sacrifice and struggle to raise a family away from the city. It's a fond but in many ways unsparing portrait of England that reveals the hardscrabble lives people lived during and after the war. The author tells her stories in a comfortable, intimate manner that welcomes the reader into her memories. I found it very enjoyable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although it was a memoir it also felt like a historical fiction novel. The writing style was perfect. Just enough detail to clearly paint a picture of the scene without extra words or fluff added.

The themes of family and perseverance dominate this story. I found it both entertaining and educational. The stories of growing up in post-war England were fascinating. Her parents sounded like quite the characters and I felt like I really knew them through her story telling.

Jacqueline Winspear is new to me and I am a fan after reading this book.

Thank you to publisher, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The book is well written, but is confined to Jacqueline Winspear's childhood and her contentious relationship with her mother. I would have liked to learn more about how Winspear made the move to California and began writing her wonderful historical novels.

An intimate look at the authors childhood her family life in postwar London.A charming read Jacqueline Winspear is a wonderful author and getting this look at her&her families life makes a lovely read.#netgalley#sohobooks