In the Great Gallery at Chawton House Library stands a display cabinet, home to a hidden treasure. On loan to us for safekeeping is the collection of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists’ trophies, many of which would have been awarded by the late Vera Brittain (1893 – 1970) as Vice President and Honorary Life president of the society from 1958-1970. If you have never heard of this remarkable woman, the film industry is about to shine its spot light on to her life. Today marks the release of Testament of Youth, a screen adaptation of her First World War memoirs.
Brittain is remembered as a rousing speaker and ardent defender of humanity and women’s rights. Like many of the women writers in our collection here at Chawton House Library, she faced opposition to her writing ambitions, being told by her family that her career choice was ‘merely stupid’.
This new film offers an insight into this inspirational figure’s self-defining experiences as a young woman, and the devastating impact of war, both on the front line and back home.
Brittain lived by the philosophy that ‘the achievement of first-rate things is so rare that it is worth doing second-rate work for a lifetime in order to produce one or two perfect things’. We hope you have the chance to watch the film and judge whether Vera Brittain would have approved of the efforts of the crew and cast to pay tribute to her life and defining book.
Co-star Kit Harington (of Game of Thrones fame)
Playing Vera Brittain in the film: Alicia Vikander