It’s 1940. Frankie Bard is an American radio reporter working in London for CBS, broadcasting news on the Blitz into American homes. Frankie is right in the heart of the action, spending her nights sheltering from the bombs and her days reporting on homes that have been destroyed, families torn apart and children left orphaned.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, we see the effects the war is having on the small town of Franklin, Massachusetts. In Franklin, we meet the postmistress (or actually, postmaster, as she prefers to be called): Iris James, a middle-aged single woman. And we also meet Emma Fitch, the doctor’s wife. When Emma’s husband travels to London to offer his medical skills to the war effort, it sets a chain of events in motion which will affect the lives of all three women.
I seem to have been reading a lot of books about World War II recently – books written during the war, set during the war and about the aftermath of the war. The Postmistress is a book I’ve had my eye on for a while and I was looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be one of the better WWII books I’ve read. In fact, it’s probably the most disappointing book I’ve read so far this year and I very nearly gave up on it after a few chapters. Although the writing was very elegant, it felt impersonal somehow and scenes that I’m sure should have made me cry left me unmoved.
The biggest problem I had was that I didn’t feel a real connection to any of the characters. The only one who came alive for me at all was Frankie Bard. I thought the book lacked focus and might have worked better if it had concentrated more on one central character. As it was, I’m not sure The Postmistress was the best title for this book. It implies that the postmistress (i.e. Iris) would be the main focal point of the book, which she wasn’t – this was really Frankie’s story in my opinion – and although Iris does play an important part in the plot, her character’s potential was never fully explored. As for the third main female character, Emma, she seemed very two-dimensional and I never felt that I got to know her at all.
It’s not all bad, though: there were some things that I did like about this book. I enjoyed the section where Frankie was sent to report on the refugee trains departing from Berlin and to attempt to interview some of the Jewish families who were leaving the city. I’m sure she wouldn’t really have found it quite so easy to travel by ferry from England to France in the middle of the war and then to catch a train to Berlin, though! Despite this and a few other inaccuracies (in the author’s note, for example, Sarah Blake admits that the recording equipment Frankie was carrying hadn’t been invented until 1944), I thought this was easily the most compelling part of the novel. This was around 150 pages into the book and was the first time I’d found myself becoming absorbed in the story, which made me glad I hadn’t abandoned it. Sadly though it didn’t continue to hold my attention and I quickly started to lose interest again when the focus returned to Iris and Emma.
I did find it interesting to read about the various ways in which the war was affecting the lives of people in Massachusetts, thousands of miles away from the fighting. We see people worrying about loved ones in Europe, people feeling frightened and expecting a German U-boat to land at any minute, people tuning into the radio every day to hear the latest news and wishing there was some way they could help. Most of the WWII books I’ve read have been from a European perspective so this was something different and I really liked that aspect of the book.
The Postmistress didn’t work for me personally, but I’ve seen a lot of reviews that are much more positive than mine, so clearly other readers have been able to connect with the characters and the story better than I have. I do however think it would make a good book group choice, as it raises some issues which would be perfect for a discussion, such as the importance of truth and whether the truth should always be told – and what happens to the people we hear about on the news after the reporter stops speaking and the radio is turned off.
She Reads Novels 
It’s always such a disappointment when a book you’ve been looking forward to doesn’t come up to expectations, isn’t it? I hope you’ve got a really satisfying read lined up for the weekend to make up for it.
Yes, I’m having better luck with this weekend’s book! I really thought I would like The Postmistress so it was very disappointing.
I felt the same way about this! In fact, I stopped reading about 40 pages before the end because I just didn’t care about the characters AT ALL and I was so frustrated.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who felt like this. If I don’t care about the characters that usually means I don’t enjoy the book. Not always, but usually.
I gave up on this one after a few chapters as I just didn’t feel any sense of involvement. Such a pity when there was so much potential in the subject matter.
It could have been an excellent book. That’s what makes it so disappointing. I didn’t think it wsa badly written but for some reason I felt completely detached from the characters and the story.
I too was disappointed. When the husband was in London I thought he was so selfish I really didn’t care about him or his sensibilities. The only part where I wanted to know what would happen next was on the train with the refugees. I read the book becuase I am going to Sarah Blake’s talk at a book festival. Will be interesting what she has to say anyway. Agree that it was a strange title given the plot.
I couldn’t really understand why Will went to London at all. That whole aspect of the plot didn’t feel very realistic to me. I hope you enjoy Sarah Blake’s talk even though you found the book disappointing!
I have this on my shelf to read. In fact it has been there long before it came slightly more famous through R&J.
I have read mixed reviews but I will give it a go at some point.
Good to see a more objective review on a book rather than a lot of gushing.
I’ve seen some very positive reviews as well as some negative ones so hopefully you’ll have better luck with it than I did!
I’ve been wanting to read this for a while and have only come across positive reviews, so it’s good to read yours and I might reassess my plan to purchase it sometime and instead take it out from the library.
Opinions seem to be very mixed on this one. You might enjoy it more than I did, but if you’re not sure it might be best to look for it in the library.
I really liked this book, but I can see why there are mixed opinions. I loved Frankie’s story and think it could have stood on its own.
I’m glad you liked it better than I did, Anna. I think maybe if it had just been Frankie’s story I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
I meant to add that I’ll link to your review on War Through the Generations.