Childhood Living Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 1 of the book, Marianne discusses her family history. Her mother came from an aristocratic background and married her father to get out of Austria during World War 2. Due to the fact that Marianne's grandmother was Jewish, they were in some danger during the war. Her father Major Glynn Faithfull was an unusual man. He was devoted to Utopian causes and set up and school for social research. As an Austrian, Marianne's mother Eva did not quite fit into British society.

When Marianne was about 12, her parents split up. She went to live in Reading with her mother and grandmother and they were quite poor. Her mother sent her to a local convent school, just so that she could have more free time to spend with her sick grandmother. Marianne converted to Catholicism to fit in. She also...