Emmeline Lake, young and single,
living in London during World War II, wanted to be a war correspondent but ended up as an assistant to Mrs.
Bird at Women’s Friend. Miss Lake’s job was to sort the letters into two
categories: unacceptable and…almost all the letters were unacceptable. Mrs.
Bird had no empathy for the readers. Miss Lake had empathy for all of them, so
much she was willing to break the rules and risk everything to help them. Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce is like Sex in the City
for 1941.
In addition to being a charming story about women and love, this is a historical novel about life in London during
the blitz: blackouts, rationing, shelters, sirens, the Fire Brigade, land
girls, and the influx of foreigners. I
was particularly entertained by the details and vocabulary.
There was a poster advising “Be Like
Dad, Keep Mum.”
“I was able to pin it back and make
not too bad a fist of the thing.”
If you’re looking for a humorous story
of single women standing up for each other against the invading Germans and an
unreasonable older generation, you’ll enjoy this book. The historical details
are excellent.
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