Written by A. J. Pearce
Irresistibly funny and enormously moving, Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce is a love letter to the enduring power of friendship, the kindness of strangers and the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
London, 1941. Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are trying to stay cheerful despite the Luftwaffe making life thoroughly annoying for everyone. 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, the renowned agony aunt of Woman’s Friend magazine.
Mrs Bird is very clear: letters containing any form of Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin. But as Emmy reads the desperate pleas from women who may have Gone Too Far with the wrong man, or can’t bear to let their children be evacuated, she decides the only thing for it is to secretly write back . . .
Irresistibly funny and enormously moving, Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce is a love letter to the enduring power of friendship, the kindness of strangers and the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
A Jolly Good Read!! 
Dear Mrs Bird sums up the spirit of the British people during WWII very neatly. The shortages, the sacrifices and the determination to keep going and ‘do your bit’ shine throughout this book.
Emmeline Lake shares a London flat with her best friend Bunty who works for the War Office. Emmy dreams of working as a war correspondent and sees her interview at Launceston Press as a first step on the ladder. Whilst she daydreams her way through the interview, she misses the most important part and it comes as a shock to find herself installed as a junior in the offices of the Woman’s Friend and in particular dealing with the correspondence of Mrs Henrietta Bird, the renowned agony aunt of this struggling magazine.
As well as following Emmy’s career, this novel also follows her home life and war efforts as well as her friendship with Bunty, and both their romantic lives. In particular, I loved the language used and stifled many giggles at the phrases with Capital Letters when reading in bed next to my sleeping other half! The author has the flavour of the people in the street spot on in my opinion – and although I wasn’t around during the war, I have read an awful lot of books set during that time.
This is both entertaining, funny and moving; the type of read where you get really involved with and care about the characters. As well as the giggles, I also shed a tear or two and it’s not every book which leads me to that! A truly wonderful read, honest to the period and one I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on. I’m rather astonished that this is a first novel and have no hesitation in recommending this – in the spirit of the novel – as a Jolly Good Read!!
My grateful thanks to publishers Pan Macmillan for approving my copy via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.
Tags: friendship, fun, WWII
- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 1025 KB
- Print Length: 320 pages
- Publisher: Picador; Main Market edition
- Publication Date: 5 April 2018
- Link to Buy: http://amzn.eu/3O71rkY
Meet the Author
AJ Pearce grew up in Hampshire and studied at the University of Sussex. A chance discovery of a 1939 womans magazine became the inspiration for her ever-growing collection and her first novel Dear Mrs Bird. She now lives in the south of England.
