Record Number: 21462

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Once, in the midst of trying to read a Strindberg play, I felt ghostly fingers gently stirring my hair, and twice mysterious footsteps walked slowly up the ward, stopped opposite my table and never returned.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Dec 1915 and 31 Dec 1915

Country:

England

Time

n/anight

Place:

city: London
specific address: 1st London General Hospital, Camberwell
location in dwelling: Hospital ward

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Vera Brittain

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

29 Dec 1893

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

unknown

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Johan August Strindberg

Title:

unknown

Genre:

Drama

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21462

Source:

Print

Author:

Vera Brittain

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Testament of Youth

Place of Publication:

Great Britain

Date of Publication:

1978

Vol:

n/a

Page:

229

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth, (Great Britain, 1978), p. 229, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21462, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

Vera Brittain is describing her experience, as a nurse, of being left "all alone in the long dark ward".