Cover Image: Dear Mrs Bird

Dear Mrs Bird

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Member Reviews

Easily the best book I have read this year! This wonderful novel drew me in instantly - I really couldn't put it down and was totally bereft to leave it behind at the finish. Emmy's WW2 London is so evocatively portrayed ( I absolutely loved the clever use of so many typical 1940s phrases) it had me smiling, laughing out loud and close to tears so many times. A feel good story despite all the death and destruction going on around. As Emmy would say - 'chin up and crack on' - is the theme of this remarkable piece of fiction.

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I could not put this book down from the moment I started it. Set against the background of the blitz, Emmy Lake aspires to be a journalist and is beyond excitement when she gains a job at the London Evening Chronicle - however, she's mistaken and the job is actually with its sister magazine Woman's Friend. Emmy is employed as a junior typist to Mrs Bird, who writes the advice column. Gradually Emmy starts to push against boundaries, and takes it upon herself to start answering the "Dear Mrs Bird" letters. After tragedy strikes in the Blitz, Emmy's letter writing is uncovered - how will the chairman of the board deal with her? Can she restore lost friendships and keep her own romance going? A sweet and beautiful debut novel.

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Oh this is a truly lovely book. The sort of book you want to cuddle. It made me laugh and cry and laugh again. The characters were beautifully drawn and very relateable, the story was wonderfully original and the setting was brilliantly constructed. It is set at the start of WWII and follows the fortunes of Emmy, a young woman, who starts a job as an assistant to an agony aunt in a failing magazine. Through readers letters and Emmy's own experiences, you really get a feel for what life was like, the pain of separation, the terror of the bombing and the need To Keep Your Chin Up and Crack On, regardless. Having said that, this is, on the whole a cheerful book, with a heart-warming theme. The author has such a talent for describing awkward moments with an understated charm, it made me laugh out loud. I loved her use of language and the way she capitalised the sayings of the time. Utterly delightful.

My thanks to Net Galley, Pan MacMillan and the author for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

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Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read a book that will stay with me for a long time and which I will introduce to my Book Group next year. (This is the second time I will have brought a Net Galley book to the notice of our village Book Group.) 'Lost for words' was loved by everyone.) What a treat awaits 2018 readers as they discover a wonderful, engaging protagonist in Emmeline Lake, Emmy.
Set in London in wartime, the reader will soar to the heights and plumb the depths as they travel with Emmy, through the reality of the London blitz. Laughter quickly turns to tears as we feel the fear, taste the dust and witness the devastation and loss of life caused by the bombing. The bravery too of many of the civilian population who worked in the Fire Service amidst such danger as it is difficult to comprehend.

A.J. Pearce shows great skill as she draws her characters and sets the scenes. Emmy is a loveable scatterbrain who we take to our hearts as her good intentions backfire on her. She has very real depth. as do the other characters. Mrs Bird comes to life (I would have cast Margaret Rutherford as Mrs Bird!) with her 'jolly hockey sticks', imperious 'show some backbone' approach to life.
The importance of female friendship is brought to the fore in this excellent novel which I can't praise highly enough. and it will seem a long wait for A.J. Pearce's second book to materialize.

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