In recent years, the role played by women during World War Two on the home front, particularly the industrial front — in factories, shipyards, and coal mines — has been receiving a lot of attention. But a true valuation of women's contribution to the war effort needs to include their work on the literal “home front,” caring for their families alone and deprived of goods and services they had ordinarily taken for granted. During the dismal years between 1939 and 1945, Maritime women learned to keep their families well fed and “fighting fit” amidst food shortages and rationing. Their recipes, relevant today for anyone who wants to prepare economical, nutritious meals, have been gathered from newspaper food columns, advertisements, and articles from the war period. Devonna Edwards's collection of wartime recipes harks back to a time when cooking was an act of patriotism. At the same time, it calls attention to the ingenious simplicity that characterizes so much of Maritime cooking. Devonna Edwards was born in Halifax, the eldest daughter of John and Mary O—Brien's ten children. She worked as a nurse for 25 years and, at present, is a wife, mother of two grown sons, and a homemaker. She spenders her free time researching and writing local history as well as exploring the province's historical spots.

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