I was surprised by how much Vera Brittain stated she disliked all the changes that the war brought into her life, and yet at the same time rejoiced in all the things that had changed for her in practice. Brittain declares about the leaving of her childhood home, “I am so glad that they are leaving that artificial, north-country hole” (224). She does not seem to miss her hometown and she never returns to it. The disconnect from her home is clear, but throughout the text she reflects many times on her previous life there in a longing way. She even walks all over the town to say goodbye. Brittain writes, “I bid a hurried good-bye to all the places made dear to me” (204).

In nursing as well Brittain has this tension of finding worthiness in practicing nursing while also being highly critical of nursing's horrors and trials. The autobiography develops a heightened tension because of the authors vacillations. I think this speaks to the overall tension of the war itself.

Brittain, Vera. Testament of Youth: an Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925. Penguin Books, 1994.