Dorothy M. Mitchell

Dorothy Mitchell was born in a small village in Yorkshire just before the Second World War. She remembers they were hard times. Air raid shelters. Sky above and over nearby towns and cities seemed to be full of enemy planes dropping their bombs. She remembers seeing fires in the distance some nights.

Her dad worked as a signalman at the local railway station. He also kept chickens for the fresh eggs and an occasional chicken dinner and grew his own vegetables. Dorothy remembers in those long gone days of doing with less. Her mum cleaned in the nearby pub. She remembers her mum swapping ration book stamps with other mothers. It was a regular occurrence. Sometimes her mum would need extra clothing coupons, whilst another mum wanted extra butter. So a swap took place. It was a time of make-do and mend.

Dorothy now lives in Evesham in Worcestershire and she has written over a dozen children's books and full-length historical fiction novels.