"I Had a Swell Time": The Diary of a Young Girl Searching for Love in the 1930s

Have you ever wanted to read someone else's diary? What if the writer of that diary lived almost 100 years ago?

Bernice Hodgins, born in 1916 in Seaforth, Canada, received a diary for her 12th birthday. She began to record her everyday life-jotting down all sorts of details about her days, whether it be outings with friends or school subjects she was struggling with. Entering into her teenage years, Bernice began to explore the dating world and confided in her diary the details of her romantic pursuits. As Bernice grew into her life as a young adult, she became more self-aware and started to think towards her future, making bigger and more life-changing decisions. All the while, her home city of Toronto hovered in the background as a secondary character in her life. Bernice's daily stream of consciousness put onto paper in this series of diary entries taken as whole depict a coming-of-age story that is unfiltered and refreshingly honest.

Bernice's inner thoughts provide a window into a different time. Her writing reveals social norms from an era when, for a teenage girl, a walk home with a boy constituted a first date. Yet, a modern reader can also see that some things never change, as Bernice's concerns about her appearance and navigating friendships and romantic relationships still ring true. Bernice didn't hold back as she revealed her fears and insecurities and eventually her desires to find love and settle down. Bernice's personality and voice are vivid in her writing, and her diaries present a fascinating sociological window into the vibrant mind of a girl as she matures into a young woman.