Jan Struther
Overview
 
Jan Struther was the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 of Joyce Anstruther, later Joyce Maxtone Graham and finally Joyce Placzek (June 6, 1901 – July 20, 1953), an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 writer remembered for her character Mrs. Miniver
Mrs. Miniver
Mrs. Miniver is a fictional character created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns for The Times, later adapted into a movie of the same name.-Origin:...

 and a number of hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s, such as "Lord of All Hopefulness
Lord of All Hopefulness
Lord of All HopefulnessLord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy,be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,...

".

She was the daughter of Henry Torrens Anstruther
Henry Torrens Anstruther
Henry Torrens Anstruther was a British Liberal Unionist politician.The second son of Sir Robert Anstruther, 5th Baronet MP, he was educated at Eton and Edinburgh University. He became an advocate in Edinburgh in 1884, and was Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for St Andrews Burghs from...

 and spent her childhood in Whitchurch
Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire
Whitchurch is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about four miles south of Winslow, four miles north of Aylesbury and has approximately 850 residents....

 in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

In 1923 she married Anthony Maxtone Graham, a broker at Lloyd's, by whom she had three children.
Quotations

For to love, loveless, is a bitter pill:But to be loved, unloving, bitterer still.

THE CHOICE, BETSINDA DANCES AND OTHER POEMS

And I am a mockery, who was God before.

AGE, BETSINDA DANCES AND OTHER POEMS

Then say–how come the years to seem so swift,The days, the days so slow?

A PARADOX, BETSINDA DANCES AND OTHER POEMS

Come, let us wage a holy war!

BALLADE OF VANISHING WILD FLOWERS, BETSINDA DANCES AND OTHER POEMS

Now heaven be thanked, I am out of love again!I have been long a slave, and now am free;

FREEDOM, BETSINDA DANCES AND OTHER POEMS

To be entirely at leisure for one day is to be for one day an immortal:

The New Car, Mrs. Miniver

In childhood the daylight always fails too soon -- except when there are going to be fireworks;

Guy Fawkes' Day, Mrs. Miniver

She noted with delight that he really did say "Ha!" This made a valuable addition to her collection. She had lately acquired a "Humph!" and two "Whews!" but she was still waiting in vain for a "Pshaw!"

The Eve of the Shoot, Mrs. Miniver

 
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