There’s a book in Everyone

14th June 2019 | Wickhambrook W.I.

by Wendy Mansfield

“There’s a book in Everyone” was the title of this month’s talk. Jeanette Moser- Bardouleau, accompanied by her husband Alan, came to inspire us to take up writing as a form of therapy and a way to commit to paper memories of life and experiences. Jeanette was keen to stress that it was not her intention to persuade people to write in order to be published but rather to write for one’s own benefit and enjoyment. To this end she had produced a book entitled “Letting Go” which turned out to be the story of her amazing life. One of the first stories she told was of being expelled from school at the Grand age of five years old. This was for bashing in a row of boater hats hanging in the cloakroom. This set the tone for the rest of the talk. Her mother was born in Berlin and this was the time in the early 1930’s when the Jewish population was being deported. Her husband-to-be was in Poland and in order to reach him she stole a bicycle and rode over the border. Once married a Jewish woman was then allowed to leave Germany. They then got on a boat to Palestine before eventually leaving for South Africa where Jeanette was born in 1938. This is where the school expulsion took place! Sadly the parents divorced and she found herself in Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it was still called then. After her first school she then attended a convent school. As a little Jewish girl in a convent she related some very unpleasant experiences of her treatment there. As an adult she joined the Police Reserves and trained in Judo, eventually teaching others how to look after themselves. She played the trumpet, once appearing with Eddie Calvert and joined the Special Branch where she described herself as a Mata Hari!

The message of the talk was about opening up to write in order to cope with bad events or memories from past life. Jeanette describes it as a cathartic experience. She gave an example of how to dwell on the positives rather than the negatives by writing a list of accomplishments starting with “ I have…….” During the talk Jeanette’s husband read a few snippets from the book to illustrate some of her adventures. After hearing about such an eventful life we all wondered if we would be able to write such a compelling memoir!

Jeanette Moser- Bardouleau and husband

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