Set My Hand Upon the Plough - E.M. Barraud

Introduced by Luke Turner

'I was tempted to linger in the cow lodge, so snug and cosy it was, out of the wind, straw to my knees, the lamp casting a warm glow everywhere, but the milk had to be strained, measured out into waiting jugs and cans and pails, and then boiling water fetched from the copper, the pails all washed, cloths wrung out and hung up to dry'

Disillusioned with her life in the City where she worked as an insurance clerk, Enid Barraud moved to the remote village of Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire, with her partner Bunty. Here, on September 4, 1939, a day after the Second World War broke out, she joined the Women's Land Army and became one of thousands who farmed while war raged overhead and overseas.

Recently discovered, Set My Hand Upon the Plough is a memoir of the five years Barraud spent as a 'Land Girl'. She writes with remarkable detail, candour and honesty about being part of the Land Amy, recording the daily agricultural graft and the friendships formed with other labourers in the village, where she became known locally as 'John'.

Based on her wartime diaries and contributions to Mass Observation, the book celebrates women working the land and challenges social attitudes towards sexuality, of the time and of today, casting new light on LGBTQI+ life on the home front and the toil for the liberation of Europe. 

Reviews:

'E.M. Barraud grew from the soil of East Anglia an identity that transcended gender binaries. Her words glow with a sensibility that reads today as at once radical and modern, ancient and occult' - Luke Turner

Publishers: Little Toller Books

ISBN: 9781915068323

Pages: 127

Weight: 212g

Dimensions: 157 x 216 x 13 mm