In 1935, a letter appeared in Nursery World magazine, beginning Can Any Mother Help Me? The young mother who wrote the letter bravely shared her frustration and loneliness, and her feelings about motherhood struck a chord with women all over Britain. Some of the women who replied to the letter began corresponding, and out of this a secret magazine was born – the Cooperative Correspondence Club.

With startling honesty, the women wrote about every aspect of their lives – the pain and elation of childbirth, the challenges of marriage, broken hearts and fading dreams. None of them could have anticipated the friendships that would grow; nor that the magazine would last their lifetimes. This is their story.