Author Description

"In 1927 Elizabeth Campbell returned home to Melbourne, Australia, broken-hearted at leaving England after attending the Royal College of Music in London under the expert guidance of Dr. Henry Ley, doyen of organ masters at both the RCM and Eton College. During her studies she made many friends and travelled extensively. In May 1933, by now a celebrated church organist and choir mistress, Elizabeth makes her long-awaited return as part of the RCM's Jubilee celebrations and records each day of her year's stay in four notebooks. In them she paints a unique portrait of London and England's people, towns and countryside between the wars and still in the grip of the Great Depression. Seen through the eyes of not just a visitor but a passionate observer wholly enamoured with their subject, she presents an intimate social history that leaves the reader feeling they've lived every moment. Her diary notebooks, all marked 'Strictly Private', were saved from Cyclone Tracy's destruction of Darwin (Christmas Eve 1974) by her great niece, Rosalind Hartshorn, who thankfully has decided to share her beloved Great Aunt Betha's fascinating observations before they remained hidden forever." -- back cover.