Sun in Winter: A Toronto Wartime Journal, 1942 to 1945 (review)

Gunda Lambton had no easy time of it - she arrived in Canada from London, England in the fall of 1940 with a young daughter; she was now safe from the Blitz, but she was pregnant and her marriage was in shambles. She arrived with few possessions and little money. Gunda had been born in Germany in 1914, her father German, her mother English - a family background that would from time to time raise suspicions, especially since her younger brother was in the German navy. Officially, she was a 'war guest' in Canada; unofficially, and more to the point, she was a struggling young mother with two children, happy to be away from London, but uncertain of her future.

After a brief stay with friends of her mother-in-law in Barrie, Ontario, Gunda moved to Toronto with her two daughters and quickly demonstrated a spirited independence that would sustain her throughout the war years. Sun in Winter is an intermittent journal of Gunda's war. She held a series of jobs, including shift work at the John Inglis plant and office work for the CCF; she moved half a dozen times from one rooming house to another, but never lost sight of her objective - to provide for herself and her family. And throughout the uncertainty, she retained her dignity and met the challenge of being a single mother during the war when accommodation, especially with children, was difficult to find, and costs were high for transportation to and from work, day care, and even the necessities of life.

Until she landed a job with Victory Aircraft, Gunda relied on the kindness of friends, acquaintances, and even strangers. She subsidized her income by doing portraiture (the book is sprinkled with reproductions of her fine work) and by carefully managing what little she had. The journal features a number of cameo appearances: union organizers Bill and Larry Sefton provided Gunda with employment and encouragement; Andrew Brewin offered her free legal advice; she met Nathan Cohen and they shared their interest in theatre and the arts. A fascinating cast of characters - landlords, fellow workers, and car pool companions - wander through the pages of Gunda's journal, bringing to life the daily routine of life in wartime Toronto.

Caught up in personal upheaval often brought on by war, Gunda Lambton's account of her life in Toronto between 1942 and 1945 - a sequel to Frankenstein's Room, her brief memoir of growing up in Nazi Germany published in 2000 - is one woman's story of resourcefulness and courage in times of great uncertainty. She tells an engaging story in her journals, and while the text is marred with almost two dozen typographical errors, Sun in Winter is an interesting and perceptive account of the home front during the Second World War and the life of one young woman who met the challenge of being a single mother in a time of personal and social upheaval.