Letters from the Little Blue Room

Daisy Thomson Gigg (1885-1953) was born in Brooklyn, New York . At the age of four she moved to Scotland with her Scottish family, settling in the town of Dunfermline. Letters from the Little Blue Room was her first book, published anonymously in . 1916, followed by a book of short stories, The Call. Styling herself 'a fiction writer' she emigrated back to the USA in 1921. Marrying a fellow novelist and farmer she settled in Penrose, Colorado, where she continued writing stories and being active in the suffragette movement.

• Introduction11Letters from the Little Blue Room151. On Returning from Holidays – Nice and Otherwise172. War-Conditions in our Town223. The Regulars – Personality v. Money264. "The Myriad-Handed Murder of Multitudes"305. To Valcartier Concentration Camp, Quebec356. To Salisbury Plain387. Memories418. Our Boys – Part of the Battle459. Women and War. – The Pride of the British Army4910. On Friendship and Tolerance. – Enter Bettetina5611. Passion – "A Temple Pure"6212. On Disillusionment6613. Functions7014. Spring. – Great-Grandmother Eve. – "Ours!"7515. Enter Pilot Me II8016. The Hump – And A Cure9117. "Ours!" Again – "The Seventh's Farewell"9618. Heroism And Heroes10019. A Thrashing from God10420. Snobs. – National Anthems – On Going Abroad10821. Wire to Southampton, July 3rd, 191511322. An Old Maid's Family11423. Army v. Navy12124. Morality or "Usualness"12625. Trees. – The Ink of Fools12926. A Creed – Poverty. – Lives Of Great Men13427. Birthday Reflections – and a Message13828. Another Crusader Goes Forth. – Happiness. – The Gleam14229. Bettetina Stays. – "Bread and Roses." – "Not Fallen"14730. On Christmas Things. – Toys15131. Too Young! – Bettetina's Tastes. – The Poor Press15632. "Nuts" – 191516033. The Pride of The British Army Goes Out. – A Prayer. – "Resolve"16534. That First Morning Feeling. – On Men's and Women's Giving. – Symbols16935. On Art – High and Otherwise17336. Hard Lines!17837. On "Moral" Writers – The Darkened Streets. – Shortage Of Paper18438. Spring Comes Again18939. Wire19340. On Death19441. On Life19742. On Going Into Action20043. In Hospital – Harry Passes20444. A Hero Without A Halo – Mrs. St. Clair Stobart’s Message To Women207Afterword212Acknowledgements221Notes222

"A compelling read. Daisy Thomson Gigg creates a voice as alive and open, fresh and engaged as when she sat at the little round table, beneath the red-shaded lamp more than a century ago, writing to her Boy, determined to keep his spirits up and remind him of home. Her Scottish identity resonates in every sentence, her political idealism, compassion and love shine out even on her darkest days. Hers represents a new and unique voice and an important addition to the canon of literature of the First World War."– Angela K. Smith, author of Women's Writing of the First World War