Dear Mrs. Bird

Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce
Fiction
2018 Scribner
Finished on June 27, 2019
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

A charming, irresistible debut novel set in London during World War II about an adventurous young woman who becomes a secret advice columnist—a warm, funny, and enormously moving story for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls.

London 1940, bombs are falling. Emmy 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 seem suddenly achievable. But the job turns out to be typist to the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down.

Mrs Bird is very clear: Any letters containing Unpleasantness—must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant letters from women who are lonely, may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men and found themselves in trouble, 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 letters back to the women of all ages who have spilled out their troubles.

Prepare to fall head over heels with Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, who are spirited and gutsy, even in the face of events that bring a terrible blow. As the bombs continue to fall, the irrepressible Emmy keeps writing, and readers are transformed by AJ Pearce’s hilarious, heartwarming, and enormously moving tale of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and ordinary people in extraordinary times.

I wish I could remember where I first read about this novel, as I would like to go back and read whatever it was that inspired me to buy a copy for my mom for Christmas last year. I was eager to read it once she was finished and after seeing that it was recommended to fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls, I was looking forward to a great read. Unfortunately, it was all I could do to finish Pearce's trite story. The writing lacks depth and the overabundant use of capitalized phrases (Bunty said rather too quickly that the army always let you know if something awful had happened so No News Is Good News and then Bill took up the baton and said Don't You Worry, Emmy, Edmund is Made of Very Stern Stuff) was not only a distraction but an annoying method to emphasize a thought or statement. Too sweet, too predictable and dare I say too boring. I couldn't wait to finish and move on to something more compelling.