Claudia FitzHerbert

Who needed who most? The complex bond between Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby

Throughout their correspondence, the fragile Brittain is often painfully demanding – but the role of devoted supporter seems to gratify Holtby

Vera Brittain, as a nurse in the first world war; Winifred Holtby, in a studio portrait for the Bystander magazine, 1933. [Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Illustrated London News ltd/Mary Evans Picture Library]
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  • Between Friends: Letters of Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby

    edited by Elaine and English Showalter

    Virago, pp. 496, £25

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