Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce

"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 can't 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"--

Dear Mrs. Bird takes place during the London Blitz. Emmy is a young woman who jumps at the opportunity to work at a newspaper, and accepts a job there before she realizes she is simply going to be typing up the questions and responses for an advice column. Mrs. Bird, the columnist, Emmy soon learns, has a long list of issues she refuses to address in the column, and Emmy finds herself longing to help those who are struggling with these difficult issues.

I figured out exactly where this story was going from the start, and usually that puts me off a story. But this story had such wonderful characters and so much humor that I ended up loving it anyway.

My full review is here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2021/09/review-dear-mrs-bird-and-yours-cheerfully-by-a-j-pearce/

When I found out I would be able to receive an ARC of Yours Cheerfully in exchange for an honest review, I decided that I'd read Dear Mrs. Bird first. Although it's possible for Yours Cheerfully to stand alone, I definitely think reading them in order helped me enjoy the second one more. Although it goes over some of the big points of what happened in Mrs. Bird, I'm glad I read it first.

When I started Dear Mrs. Bird, I had a little bit of a hard time at first getting into the writing style. It's different than what I've read in historical fiction before. The author chooses to capitalize some things, and that's a style that put me off a little. For instance, Emmy might explain something as “having become Quite the Big Thing.” However, as I kept reading, I got more used to it and it didn't bother me quite so much. Still, the grammarian in me had kind of a hard time!

The plot was really light to begin with, but it got deeper and less fluffy for sure. Still, even when the subject matter got heavy with war fallout, Emmy is so good-natured and talks in such a...sweet? way that it's heavy without feeling too gloomy.

Overall, I found Dear Mrs. Bird light, yet it tackles difficult subject matter. The portrayal of friendship was so heartwarming, it was just a fun read. I gave it 4.5 stars overall.

Uplifting and light read. Just hit the spot when needed!

I've described this book to friends as “kind of like The Devil Wears Prada but with rampant bombing” and having finished it I still think that's not a terrible way to sum it up.

It takes the same tone as the protagonist; intentionally upbeat while the world quite literally burns. It's optimism to the point of denial, because the characters aren't sure how else to keep going. Being overwhelmed by helplessness and hopelessness in the context of vast political conflicts resulting in much suffering is something many can relate to. But it's more lighthearted than that makes it sound.

It wasn't a favorite, but it's a pretty quick and boisterous read.