Funny and Captivating: Read This Before the Sequel is Published!

 Book Review: Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce

Set in London during World War II, Dear Mrs. Bird follows protagonist Emmeline Lake and her dearest friend Bunty as they live their lives and try to keep going in the midst of war that was ripping the world apart.

Emmy volunteers for the Fire Brigade.  When she sees an advertisement for her dream job as a War Correspondent it doesn’t occur to her not to apply. It’s her hope to cover the war, to write about the courage and bravery the soldiers and support personnel showed each and every day.  

Miscommunication and misunderstanding have her accepting a job to work for an advice columnist at Women’s Friend, a popular women’s magazine. To make it worse, and all the more embarrassing for Emmy, she discovers she won’t even be doing the writing; she’ll be screening the letters and passing the acceptable ones to the columnist, Mrs. Bird.

Women’s Friend has seen better days.  Most of the staff have gone either gone to fight in the war or lost their jobs to save the company money. The offices are close to empty.  Readership is plummeting.  All the same, Emmy grows to enjoy the work once she gets past her embarrassment at thinking she was being offered a correspondent’s position.  She makes friends, and she is even able to keep volunteering for the Fire Brigade.

With strict rules from Mrs. Bird that she will select any letters of Unpleasantness to publish, it’s difficult to find enough to fill the Problems Page.  That’s the least of Emmy’s concerns.  As she reads the letters and becomes more familiar with the sort of things that Mrs. Bird will answer, she finds it heartbreaking to throw away the Unacceptable ones.  

Touched by the myriad letters her boss refuses to consider answering, Emmeline seizes opportunity when it presents itself.

  When one letter arrives and includes a self-addressed stamped envelope for a personal reply, she convinces herself that she’ll be able to help.  Wavering only when she has to sign the letter with Mrs. Bird’s name, she pushes on and mails the letter.  After the first one, she vows not to do it again, but her desire to help overpowers her concerns about the ethics of the situation.

Can Emmeline stop herself from giving advice before she gets into trouble?  What about the advice she gives that has repercussions she hadn’t anticipated?  Once she starts lying to her friends and co-workers about what she’s doing, can she find a way to keep her friends and her jobs? 

AJ Pearce has created characters and a story that are funny, real, and captivating.  With the backdrop of London, and the sympathetic characters and circumstances, this book is a winner.  As I neared the end of the book, I began to wonder about sequels, and I was pleased to learn that Yours Cheerfully is being published on August 10, 2021.  Check this one out first so you’ll be ready when it’s released.