They Can’t Ration These Gift Wrapping:Cambridge Imprint paper a small pyramid of luggage

a small pyramid of luggage at her feet

at least in developing a certain rueful sense of humour about things you’re too old to cry about

“Well…” she breathed

Edith Zangwill (1874–1945) – her husband was the writer Israel Zangwill – chooses to begin with a leisurely and detailed trawl round a house in London's Lowndes Square

whose picture is reproduced above

They Can’t Ration These Gift Wrapping:Cambridge Imprint paper a small pyramid of luggage176pp ISBN 9781903155448 This 1940 cookery book, which is about what we would now call 'foraging', was written at a time when the people of Great Britain genuinely thought the Nazis might invade at any moment, forcing them to find a way to live off the land and find food for free. It is thus a fascinating historical document as well as being full of excellent and unusual recipes (roast hedgehog, anyone?). Vicomte de Mauduit wrote They Can't Ration