First published in 1941, the original blurb for Letters to Margaret reads: ‘In view of the almost universal ignorance of the most elementary biological and psychological facts of life amongst adults, and waste of time and energy amongst children in attempts to acquire surreptitiously the knowledge necessary to them, the author has supplied the need in this book. Drawing upon a fund of material accumulated over twenty years of work for difficult children, he gives in the form of letters to a girl on the threshold of adolescence answers to many questions which puzzle the eager minds of boys and girls. He traces the course of normal growth from birth to the age of twenty-five, and shows how the male and female elements combine to form the human personality. In a small compass he has given parents and teachers a book which will help children reach maturity ready to take an adult part in life. With this volume on their own shelves children will have no need to search the Bible for stray allusions to the act of reproduction, or borrow surreptitiously the volume on “advice to parents” supposedly kept beyond their reach.’ Today it can be read in its historical context.

This book is a re-issue originally published in 1941. The language used and views portrayed are a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.

Theodore James Faithfull (1885–1973) came from a family who for several generations had been prominent in the educational world. He qualified as a veterinary surgeon, and served in the first world war. Shortly after returning to private life he started a progressive co-educational school which soon became a school for difficult children. He went on to become a psychoanalyst and later a sex therapist.