An Englishwoman of no particular fame living in World War I Brussels
started a secret diary in September 1916. Aware that her thoughts could
put her in danger with German authorities, she never wrote her name on
the diary and ran to hide it every time the Boches came to inspect the
house. The diary survived the war and ended up in a Belgian archive,
forgotten for nearly a century until historians Sophie De Schaepdrijver
and Tammy M. Proctor discovered it and the remarkable woman who wrote
it: Mary Thorp, a middle-aged English governess working for a wealthy
Belgian-Russian family in Brussels.
As a foreigner and a woman, Mary Thorp offers a unique window into life
under German occupation in Brussels (the largest occupied city of World
War I) and in the uncertain early days of the peace. Her diary describes
the roar of cannons in the middle of the night, queues for food and
supplies in the shops, her work for a wartime charity, news from an
interned godson in Germany, along with elegant dinners with powerful
diplomats and the educational progress of her beloved charges.
Mary Thorp's sharp and bittersweet reflections testify to the daily
strains of living under enemy occupation, comment on the events of the
war as they unfolded, and ultimately serve up a personal story of
self-reliance and endurance. De Schaepdrijver and Proctor's in-depth
commentary situate this extraordinary woman in her complex political,
social, and cultural context, thus providing an unusual chance to engage
with the Great War on an intimate and personal level.
