"STRANGER IN THE HOUSE: Women's Stories of Men Returning from the Second World War" is made up of multi-layered stories spanning generations of the adjustments women in Britain had to make upon the return of their husbands or sweethearts from war. Many of these men had served in the military in places as diverse as France, Italy, India, Singapore, and Java during various stages of the war. Indeed, a large majority of these men ended up as POWs of the Germans (most of them ended up in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany and Poland for almost 5 years) or the Japanese. The ones who were prisoners of the Japanese suffered the worst in terms of physical and psychological abuse.
Many of these stories I found deeply moving. Julie Summers is to be commended for her research into an aspect of the war and its impact on families that has been little explored by historians. It is my hope that a similar book will be written, detailing the impact of the Second World War on returning American veterans and their families.