Tag: Dear Mrs Bird

Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce: A Review

“I tried to take a deep breath and be British and brave, but it didn’t work, and instead, the tears began. Masses of them. Where did tears like that come from and how did they get there so fast? Were they always there, just waiting for something dreadful to happen? What a horrible job they had.” – AJ Pearce, Dear Mrs. Bird

 

This was a surprisingly touching novel to me. Dear Mrs. Bird‘s main character, Emmy, is living in London during the Blitz with her best friend Bunty, at a time when the German Luftwaffe bombed British cities regularly in an attempt to force Britain out of the war. With dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, Emmy accidentally takes a job as a junior typist working for an advice column, “Henrietta Helps”, in Woman’s Friend magazine. On top of the initial embarrassment of realizing her new job is not going to have her reporting from the front lines of the war, it turns out “Henrietta” is Mrs. Bird, a woman who shouts a lot and has a long list of things that she refuses to respond to when readers write in requesting help (Affair, Amorous, Ardent, Bed, Bedroom, Bed jacket, Berlin … and it goes on). Emmy can’t stand the idea of these poor readers, many of whom are struggling with very difficult personal situations that are compounded by the war, being ignored completely by Mrs. Bird and so she begins to write back in secret, posing as Mrs. Bird. But this is only her day job; anxious to do her part in supporting the war effort, Emmy volunteers several nights a week in the Auxiliary Fire Service, dispatching fire fighters across London to deal with the fires set by the Luftwaffe’s bombs. She often gets only an hour or two of sleep between leaving the fire station and heading off to work again.

Emmy is a comedic heroine; often her big heart and a short-sighted desire to help get her into a lot of trouble but she never loses her desire to improve her own situation or help those around her in any way she can. I described this book to a friend as a 1940s Bridget Jones but with the emotional vibe of a Christmas movie (another way to say this is that I really liked it). Often it is Pearce’s funny elements that offset the tragedies of the war, like when Emmy is set up on a date with a soldier from a bomb disposal unit who constantly shouts because of the ringing in his ears. Other times, like through the letters Emmy receives at “Henrietta Helps”, characters’ fears and desperation come to the forefront, highlighting the incredibly difficult circumstances people faced on a daily basis. There were times reading this novel when I laughed out loud and other times when I had tears in my eyes.

One of the important things this novel does is to emphasize the roles of women on the British home front during the war, not just in terms of the work they did to support the war effort, but also in terms of the challenges they faced: falling out of love with husbands who had been gone for months, trying to decide whether to send children away or keep them with you and risking the bombings, having sweethearts leave you for someone they met overseas. Many of these women worked long hours in very uncertain circumstances and yet they were expected to keep their fears to themselves, the keep their chins up, a stiff upper lip and to smile, smile, smile. They were told that to do otherwise was unpatriotic and weak; that they needed to show Hitler that they could not be defeated.

Pearce’s inspiration for the novel began when she came across a copy of a women’s magazine from 1939. She was most struck by the Problem Page and she went on to read many letters from readers in wartime magazines during her research. The novel really is a tribute to the experiences of these women, told through Emmy and Bunty’s stories in a way that makes them relatable even though we are so far removed from wartime London. Pearce writes,

Many of the readers’ letters in Dear Mrs. Bird were inspired by the letters and advice, articles and features printed in those wartime magazines. I found them thought-provoking, moving, and inspirational, and my admiration for the women of that time never stops growing. Our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and friends, some of whom I hope may even read and enjoy Emmy and Bunty’s story. It is a privilege to look into their world and remember what incredible women and girls they all were.

I would recommend Dear Mrs. Bird in a heartbeat. It is charming and touching and funny without glossing over the difficulties of the war. At its heart, it is really about friendship and finding the strength to push on, if not for yourself, then for those you love. If you read Dear Mrs. Bird, (and I know some of you plan to) I would love to know if you liked it as much as I did. Until next week, happy reading!

November Line Up

While I am usually happy with my home on the east coast, if there is one month I feel a little less than grateful, it’s November. It’s dark, cold, wet, dreary, gray – I could play this game for a long time, folks. So for this month, the theme is “Get Me Out of Here!” If I can’t escape the magical weather combination of drizzle and sleet that November brings in real life, at least I can travel via book. All of this month’s selections are set in other places so maybe you’ll find one in here too to help you beat the November blahs.

November 3: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. I first picked this book up because I loved the cover (I know what you’re thinking but let’s all admit, sometimes beautiful books actually do have beautiful covers). The concept behind the story is really interesting: one hot summer day in 1969, four siblings in New York City visit a psychic who tell each one the exact day they will die. The rest of the novel is divided into four parts, one devoted to each sibling as Benjamin reveals how the prophecy influences each of their lives. The story zigzags across the US as the siblings move away from their childhood home in NYC in pursuit of their dreams.

November 10: The Little French Bistro by Nina George. I really enjoyed George’s other novel, The Little Paris Bookshop, which hooked me with the idea of a bookshop in a canal boat that goes floating around the rivers of France. It was totally charming and sweet, oh, and there were recipes in the back of the book for all the French food George writes about in the novel. What’s not to love? In her new novel, George’s main character, Marianne, packs it in after she can stand her unhappy marriage no longer and leaves Paris for the Brittany coast. And there are recipes again, so I will let you know if I try any…

November 17: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton. This is a recent Reese’s Book Club pick. I will admit, I really do love Reese Witherspoon. She is amazing in HBO’s Big Little Lies (if you haven’t watched it, read the book first, it is so good) and she does a lot to promote all things bookish. I also really love Cuba. The country, the people and the culture are beautiful and the island’s history is fascinating so I was sold on this book. The story is set between 1958, in the years before the revolution and in Miami in 2017 and follows two women, Elisa, a member of a wealthy Cuban family who is forced to flee during the revolution and Marisol, her granddaughter, who eventually returns to Cuba to scatter Elisa’s ashes in the country of her birth.

November 24: Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce. This novel is set in London during World War II. The main character, Emmeline, dreams of becoming a war correspondent. Instead, she ends up answering letters for Mrs. Bird, a renowned advice columnist. Mrs. Bird tells Emmy to throw any letters that involve Unpleasantness straight into the garbage but Emmy ends up reading them and answering them in secret. This book is supposed to be both funny and moving, so I am really looking forward to it.

So there we are, the continental US, France, Cuba and England. You can take your pick but while the November rain pours down, I am going to be somewhere cozy with a good book and I hope you will be too. Let me know if you plan on picking up any of November’s books!