Dear Mrs Bird
Cosy up with this heartwarming and heartbreaking novel set in wartime London
-
-
4.1 • 201 Ratings
-
-
- £3.99
Publisher Description
Richard & Judy Book Club Pick
Sunday Times Bestseller
Set during London's blitz and filled with warmth, wit and heartbreak, Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce 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
'Imagine Bridget Jones running amok in the wartime world of Mrs Miniver' – The Sunday Times
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With its theme of female empowerment, AJ Pearce's wickedly funny, moving debut strikes all the right chords. Set in World War II London, the novel follows Emmeline Lake, whose determined quest to advance beyond her dead-end job as typist for an imperious advice columnist is timely, relatable and inspiring. The more we learn about the aspiring journalist and her hilarious friend Bunty, the more Dear Mrs. Bird feels like a charming ode to friendship.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pearce's clever debut follows a plucky Londoner during the Blitz who dreams about becoming a war correspondent. When 22-year-old Emmeline Lake sees an ad for a "Junior" from the London Evening Chronicle's publisher in 1940, she believes this will be the start of her journalism career. Alas, the job entails assisting Henrietta Bird, the advice columnist in Women's Friend, a magazine dying off from fustiness. Henrietta is a literary Violet Crawley who won't answer letters involving any unpleasantness, which eliminates most everything pertinent. Emmy, however, fails to destroy unsuitable letters as instructed, instead answering them privately under Mrs. Bird's forged signature. Meanwhile, she and her best friend, Bunty, demonstrate resolve as bombs rain down night after night and Emmy's fianc informs her, via overseas telegram, that he is leaving her for a nurse. 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, Pearce's novel is a delight.
Customer Reviews
Dear Mrs Bird
Excellent really lovely story and descriptions of wartime London are so real. I hope there’s a sequel as I love this writer’s style.
Evocative and captivating
This was the first book chosen for our newly formed book club. A close bunch of girl friends reading as a shared experience and we couldn’t have picked a better book to start. The writing took you straight into that time and I really felt that I was there. It was at times funny, shocking, sad, and hopeful. A fantastic read.
Brilliantly Read and good all the way Through
I'm sure this Audiobook will become one of the classic - not to be missed - Audiobooks of the next few years.
It's so well read at just the right speed.
It has a really good pace of story telling. A wartime atmosphere that is helped rather then hindered by the story teller.
I loved it and I guarantee you will just try it.