A Bridport author has shared wartime letters from her mother to father for her new book, 'From Doodlebugs to Devon'.

Sarah Shaw's new book explores life on the home front during the Second World War, based on letters written by her mother, Yvonne Shaw, to her father between 1944 and 1945.

The book reveals what it was like for one woman to live through the latter stages of the war, with a brief introduction to her life as a housewife in south London, which was suddenly shattered when the V1 flying bombs, or Doodlebugs, brought terror and destruction to the captial.

Eventually, Yovonne was able to escape to Budleigh Salterton in Devon, but even then her troubles are not over.

Her fears, anxieties, cynicism and happiness unfold in her unique voice – brave, quick-witted, honest and funny, revealing differences between her reactions to events and the assumptions made in popular histories.

Sarah commented: "This is the book I've always wanted to write. My mother's letters are so vivid and witty.

"Although I've had them for decades, it was only when I retired that I had enough time to research their background and find out whether the secret service deliberately put south London in the V1's firing line, why my mother chose to live in Devon and about my father's army service in Scotland.

"One of the strangest moments was in the National Archives, when I found several memos he'd written and signed."

Copies of Sarah Shaw's 'From Doodlebugs to Devon' are on sale from The Bridport Bookshop or online via https://sarahshawwords.blogspot.com/ or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/100093213553460