Two American women brought together by events happening a sea away in London. One was there to deliver radio reports on the German bombing raids destroying the city, the other is back in the states waiting on news of her doctor husband who went there to help. Now the one thing that connects not only the two women, but the entire village, is the fear of the unknown. The waiting, the wondering, the what ifs. Will their fears come true after months of waiting, or will they realize they were all just worries not meant to come true?
The Postmistress is Sarah Blake’s best-selling novel set during World War II. Focused on the drive for Americans to help their British counterparts during the bombing raids, but also on the eminent threat against the US from German warships. With the need for community at the forefront of so many decisions throughout this novel, this book is about finding support from unlikely sources, but also found learning you are stronger than you suspect you are.
I give The Postmistress 3 out of 5 stars. I had a difficult time following the premise of this novel. The publisher’s blurb describes this as a book about what happens if someone doesn’t deliver a letter. While that is a small part of what happens here, it is not what I would consider a central theme – that is more about the fear of the unknown, the waiting and wondering. I also found it hard to stay focused on the narrative of the story given so many liberties taken with the historical facts of the time period. The author’s notes can provide additional details on what she deemed necessary to change to further her fictional character’s lives and the storyline. I would challenge some of those changes though – the appearance of an enemy ship was a mere mention and didn’t serve to do much to further the plot, etc. The changes of facts in historical fiction is one of my biggest pet peeves because of the confusion it can cause for readers who look at these books as dramatizations of true history. Instead of spending time to change these facts, I would rather the author have spent additional time developing a few of the characters in the book whose background and demeanor seemed to fluctuate from early to late in the novel, adding additional confusion for the reader.
With discussions of maternal death during labor and death during the bombing raids, this book would be best directed to more mature audiences over 16. If you like World War II historical fiction, especially that which focuses on the events on American soil, you may like this novel. I think this would make an interesting choice for a book club selection as well – it would be interesting to see what others think about the factual liberties the author chose to take.
I chose The Postmistress for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “historical fiction”. This is one of my favorite genres and I had been hearing about this book for some time. However, I was a bit disappointed. We have read so many other great Historical Fiction books over the past few years. Are you looking for other good books that also fit our April theme of “purple”? Look back at Sunday’s agenda post and look at our recommendations for this week – I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll love!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure, Rhys Bowen
- Current audio book: Deep End, Ali Hazelwood
- Book I’m most looking forward to: My Name is Victoria, Lucy Worsley
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