As evident from my choice of topic for my project, I got that music was essential in A.M. Henry’s Memoir. I thought it was interesting how her brother wanted to be a professional pianist (II /43). This interested me because when I picture the times of war, I do not picture people choosing a life of music. One aspect from the memoir that I did not get to delve into a lot was just the everyday family life Henry describes. She describes how it was like to grow up on a farm especially what they did for fun. She describes what her and her brother did to entertain themselves. One of my favourite scenes of the memoir is when her and her brother made a type of circus (II/30).  I think this stood out for me because other memoirs that have looked at such as Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz describes only the terrors and hardships of life. The tone of happiness and humour stood out for me in this book which made it enjoyable to read.

This memoir also tied in all the fields of history we looked at throughout the course. It is memoir, but it incorporates biographical themes such as supplying background information. It also seems to follow a bit of the microhistory theme of being specific because it is about A. M. Henry in a particular point of her life. Finally, it is her story that she is telling; it is pieces of history that she has memories of or that are significant to her. There are places where she might have embellished her story slightly, for example getting a letter from the prime minister (II/50), yet that is a part of storytelling.

It is obvious we cannot use this source for a secondary source, but it is an awesome reading to springboard into specific topics.

Work Cited

Henry, A.M., This is NOT a Fairy Tale, Owen Sound, 1983 (Online in Moodle), parts 1 & 2.