by AJ Pearce
Cover art by Emily Sutton
Cover design by Katie Tooke (Picador Art Department)
Published by Picador An imprint of Pan Macmillan
I love the style of this cover. It is very retro with muted colours & even has texture like home-made paper people might have made during rationing when everything was restricted & in short supply.
Emmeline (Emmy) is quite busy with her volunteer shifts answering telephones at the fire station but is so excited to start a new job, as a budding War Correspondent writing for the London Evening Chronicle.
From the moment she saw the advert in the paper, Emmy was so excited & was desperate to train as a reporter. She's grateful for her current job but her heart just wasn't in it.
She is shocked to discover the job is actually working for absurdly strict Henrietta Bird, Agony Aunt for Women's Friend magazine.
Set in active WWII 1941 London, Blackout times, air-raid sirens, & rationing are all part of Emmy's life. Fortunately, so are good friends. Life really could change at any moment for all of them but the characters manage to take a collective deep breath & stride on, refusing to let the enemy ruffle feathers, or shake their fortitude.
Emmy can't let the forbidden 'Dear Mrs. Bird' letters (with any form of Unpleasantness) from sad or worried people get torn up & tossed into the office rubbish bin. Her decision to secretly answer them herself speaks volumes. She has a huge, caring heart for everyone.
A real-life event - the bombing of Café de Paris - is a major feature in the story & creates a turning point in many lives. Friendships & trust will be fiercely tested.
Though it's wartime & even the simple things in daily life are tough, humour & tragedy live side by side in this book.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
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