Saturday 9 June 2018

Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce




This is a grand debut novel.  I hope she keeps on writing although this one will be hard to top.

So what can I tell you without being a spoiler?  The author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society said that Dear Mrs Bird was 'funny and touching, a treat of a read'.  And I agree wholeheartedly.

The novel is set in London in 1940 during the Blitz.  Its protagonist is Emmy Lake – who ends up working for  a battle-axe agony aunt (Mrs Bird) and assisting the Fire Brigade at night.

Emmy's 'voice' feels incredibly authentic to me.  Here is the first couple of sentences of the book:

'When I first saw the advertisement in the newspaper I thought I might actually burst.  I'd had rather a cheerful day so far despite the Luftwaffe annoying everyone by making us all late for work, and then I'd managed to get hold of an onion, which was very good news for a stew….'

Not to be missed.

2 comments:

  1. So glad to read your review of this novel as I recently added it to my ever growing reading wishlist!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the sound of this one, off to request it from the library now.

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