[i]A marvelous treat. Charming and delightful. Nina Stibbe--author of *Love, Nina .[/i]
An irresistible debut set in London during World War II about an adventurous young woman who becomes a secret advice columnist a warm, funny, and enormously moving story for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls .
London, 1940. Emmeline Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle , her dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent suddenly seem achievable. But the job turns out to be working as a typist for the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down.
Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant notes from women who may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men, or who cant bear to let their children be evacuated, she is unable to resist responding. As the German planes make their nightly raids, and London picks up the smoldering pieces each morning, Emmy secretly begins to write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles.
Prepare to fall head over heels for Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, who are gutsy and spirited, even in the face of a terrible blow. The irrepressible Emmy keeps writing letters in this hilarious and enormously moving tale of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and ordinary people in extraordinary times.
**
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of July 2018: In this funny, uplifting novel set during the London Blitz, first-time author AJ Pearce shows herself to be a master of wartime vernacular speech and period charm. Though Emmeline Lake, Pearces outspoken narrator, dreams of becoming a serious journalist, she rashly accepts a job as junior secretary to Mrs. Bird, a womens advice columnist whose views on behavior are as outmoded as her tweeds. Mrs. Bird wont deign to reply to readers with real-world problems, but Emmeline cant resist offering them the support she knows they need. Before long, shes writing back on her employers stationary, and her well-intentioned counsel begins to threaten her relationships at work and at home. Nighttime bombing raids bring danger and pathos to this otherwise giddy, delectable story. If you enjoyed Major Pettigrews Last Stand or Chris Cleaves Everyone Brave is Forgiven , Dear Mrs. Bird might be your favorite book of the summer. Sarah Harrison Smith, Amazon Book Review
Review
Funny, fresh, and touching, Dear Mrs. Bird is a pitch-perfect pleasure. Its a rare and wonderful thing to read a book that seems to live properly in its era.
Annie Barrows, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
A marvelous treat. Charming and delightful.
Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina
A joy from start to finish. Dear Mrs. Bird is as funny as it is heartwarming.
John Boyne , author of The Heart's Invisible Furies
"I relished every moment of Dear Mrs. Bird. What a joy! Hilarious, heartwarming, and unutterably charming." -- Jennifer Ryan, author of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
Vividly evocative of wartime life avery English tribute to the women of the homefront. Kirkus
Fans of Jojo Moyes will enjoy Pearces debut, with its plucky female characters and fresh portrait of womens lives in wartime Britain.
Library Journal
"Set against a backdrop of war-torn London, this is a charming and heartfelt novel. Pearce brings to life a tale of true friendship, and how love will outlast even the most challenging times." -- Booklist
"The sweetest, most uplifting, lovely book about courage, friendship, love." --Marian Keyes
"Clever... The novel has a wonderfully droll tone, a reminder of the exuberance of youth even under dire circumstances. Headlined by its winning lead character, who always keeps carrying on, Pearces novel is a delight." -- Publishers Weekly
"Emmeline Lake, the heroine of Dear Mrs. Bird , is the most endearing character to emerge from the world of British fiction since Bridget Jones. Shes funny, shes indefatigable, and she faces the worst of circumstances with the pluckiest of resolves. You cannot help but love her." Kimmery Martin, author of The Queen of Hearts
"Awinning wartime romp, as hilarious as it is moving....the novel's spirit is madly winning, and its foregrounding of wartime women seems spiffingly modern." -- The Guardian
Books that make you shake with laughter and sob with tears are rare. I gulped this one down but didnt stop thinking about it for a long time.
Katie Fforde , author of A Secret Garden

lgrsfic/R:\!fiction\0day\eng\_IRC\2018\2018-n073\A J Pearce - Dear Mrs Bird, A Novel (epub).epub

lgli/A J Pearce - Dear Mrs Bird, A Novel (epub)

zlib/Fiction/Pearce, A J/Dear Mrs. Bird_5027479.epub

Cosy up with this heartwarming and heartbreaking novel set in wartime London

Dear Mrs. Bird [eBook - NC Digital Library] : A Novel

A. J. Pearce

Macmillan Children's Books

Publisher not identified

Campbell Books Ltd

Simon & Schuster

Atria / 37 Ink

Pan Macmillan

Atria Books

Pan Books

Scribner

Emmy Lake, Place of publication not identified, 2018

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

United States, United States of America

Emmy Lake Chronicles, 2018

Reprint, 2018

London, 2018

lg_fict_id_2098179

This charming, irresistible debut novel set in London during World War II about a young woman who longs to be a war correspondent and inadvertently becomes a secret advice columnist is "a jaunty, heartbreaking winner" ( People )—for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls .
Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are doing their bit for the war effort and trying to stay cheerful, despite the German planes making their nightly raids. Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance; but after a rather unfortunate misunderstanding, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, renowned advice columnist of Woman's Friend magazine.
Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin. But as Emmy reads the desperate pleas from women who many have Gone Too Far with the wrong man, or can't bear to let their children be evacuated, she begins to secretly write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles.
"Fans of Jojo Moyes will enjoy AJ Pearce's debut, with its plucky female characters and fresh portrait of women's lives in wartime Britain" ( Library Journal )—a love letter to the enduring power of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times. "Headlined by its winning lead character, who always keeps carrying on, Pearce's novel is a delight" ( Publishers Weekly ). Irrepressibly funny and enormously moving, Dear Mrs. Bird is "funny and poignant...about the strength of women and the importance of friendship" ( Star Tribune , Minneapolis).

This charming, irresistible debut novel set in London during World War II about a young woman who longs to be a war correspondent and inadvertantly becomes a secret advice columnist is "a jaunty, heartbreaking winner" ( People )--for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls . Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are doing their bit for the war effort and trying to stay cheerful, despite the German planes making their nightly raids. Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance; but after a rather unfortunate misunderstanding, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, renowned advice columnist of Woman's Friend magazine. Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin. But as Emmy reads the desperate pleas from women who many have Gone Too Far with the wrong man, or can't bear to let their children be evacuated, she begins to secretly write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles. "Fans of Jojo Moyes will enjoy AJ Pearce's debut, with its plucky female characters and fresh portrait of women's lives in wartime Britain" ( Library Journal )--a love letter to the enduring power of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times. "Headlined by its winning lead character, who always keeps carrying on, Pearce's novel is a delight" ( Publishers Weekly ). Irrepressibly funny and enormously moving, Dear Mrs. Bird is "funny and poignant...about the strength of women and the importance of friendship" ( Star Tribune , Minneapolis)

Richard & Judy Book Club Pick —- Sunday Times Bestseller
Set during London's blitz and filled with warmth, wit and heartbreak, Dear Mrs Bird is a wartime story about the power of friendship, the kindness of strangers and the courage of ordinary people.
London, 1941. Amid the falling bombs Emmeline Lake dreams of becoming a fearless Lady War Correspondent. Unfortunately, Emmy instead finds herself employed as a typist for the terrifying Henrietta Bird, the renowned agony aunt at Woman's Friend magazine. Mrs Bird refuses to read, let alone answer, letters containing any form of Unpleasantness, and definitely not letters from the women the war has left lovelorn, grief-stricken or conflicted.
But the thought of these desperate women waiting for an answer becomes impossible for Emmy to ignore. She decides she simply must help and secretly starts to write back – after all, what harm could that possibly do?
'The most uplifting, lovely book about courage, friendship, love' – Marian Keyes
'Utterly charming and helplessly funny' – Jenny Colgan
'A proper comfort read' – India Knight

2019-06-12