{"product_id":"the-real-mrs-miniver-9780312308261","title":"The Real Mrs Miniver","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1937 the Court Page of the London Times began publishing a series of articles featuring a charming  upper-middle class English housewife named Mrs Miniver. The articles depicted an idyllically happy family with three children  a house in London  and a country cottage called Starlings.  Two years later  Mrs Miniver was published in book form. While some critics derided the book as sentimental  many readers embraced it as a symbol of an increasingly endangered English way of life  and it went on to become the #1 bestseller in America. The Hollywood film  released in 1942 with Greer Garson in the title role  won five Oscars  including Best Picture  and did so much to promote the American war effort in Europe that even Josef Goebbels recognized it as an exemplary piece of propaganda.  But who was the real Mrs Miniver? The articles were produced by Joyce Maxtone Graham  who wrote under the name Jan Struther and seemed to resemble her heroine: She was upper-middle class  and lived in a gracious  comfortable home with her husband and three children. After the war broke out  she served as an unofficial ambassador from Great Britain to the U.S.  In truth  however  Jan Struther was not at all like the conventional Mrs Miniver. It wasnt merely that she didnt like tea--to the amazement of everyone in America--but her real life was neither simple nor saintly. Her marriage was ending  and she was secretly in love with a Jewish refugee from Nazi Austria.  Written by Jan Struthers granddaugther  The Real Mrs Miniver is a complex and fascinating biography. While the Hollywood version remains a powerful and inspirational movie  this book offers brilliant insights into the true impact of war upon real peoples lives.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648131162165,"sku":"ByrdShop_0312308264","price":23.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780312308261.jpg?v=1781710484","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-real-mrs-miniver-9780312308261","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}