The Postmistress

By: Sarah Blake

Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

It is 1940. France has fallen. Bombs are dropping on London. And President Roosevelt is promising he won't send our boys to fight in "foreign wars."

But American radio gal Frankie Bard, the first woman to report from the Blitz in London, wants nothing more than to bring the war home. Frankie's radio dispatches crackle across the Atlantic ocean, imploring listeners to pay attention--as the Nazis bomb London nightly, and Jewish refugees stream across Europe. Frankie is convinced that if she can just get the right story, it will wake Americans to action and they will join the fight.

Meanwhile, in Franklin, Massachusetts, a small town on Cape Cod, Iris James hears Frankie's broadcasts and knows that it is only a matter of time before the war arrives on Franklin's shores. In charge of the town's mail, Iris believes that her job is to deliver and keep people's secrets, passing along the news that letters carry. And one secret she keeps are her feelings for Harry Vale, the town mechanic, who inspects the ocean daily, searching in vain for German U-boats he is certain will come. Two single people in midlife, Iris and Harry long ago gave up hope of ever being in love, yet they find themselves unexpectedly drawn toward each other.

Listening to Frankie as well are Will and Emma Fitch, the town's doctor and his new wife, both trying to escape a fragile childhood and forge a brighter future. When Will follows Frankie's siren call into the war, Emma's worst fears are realized. Promising to return in six months, Will goes to London to offer his help, and the lives of the three women entwine.

Alternating between an America still cocooned in its inability to grasp the danger at hand and a Europe being torn apart by war, The Postmistress gives us two women who find themselves unable to deliver the news, and a third woman desperately waiting for news yet afraid to hear it.

Sarah Blake's The Postmistress shows how we bear the ...

©2010 Sarah Blake (P)2010 Penguin

Critic reviews

“Blake captures two different worlds—a naïve nation in denial and, across the ocean, a continent wracked with terror—with a deft sense of character and plot, and a perfect willingness to take on big, complex questions, such as the merits of truth and truth-telling in wartime.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Matching harrowing action with reflection, romance with pathos, Blake’s emotional saga of conscience and genocide is poised to become a best-seller of the highest echelon.” ( Booklist, starred review)

“a moving page-turner from a talented writer.” ( Bookmarks Magazine)

Couldn't stop Listening

Another example of my interpretation of a good book. Just had to keep listening and kept thinking about it after it had finished.
Three different lives in wartime years. Didn't quite turn out as I planned but a great ending.
Keep the tissues handy.

Thought provoking

In comparison to some other reviewers, I loved it! If I were to try and distill it down into a single concept, it made me THINK. Both the narration and the story made me pause to think about this time in history and to consider what was happening in the average person's life, in American and Germany. It's been at least 2-3 years since I listened (overdue review!) but I STILL think about the lessons I gleaned from the story.

Great!

I really enjoyed this book! It took a few chapters before I was totally pulled into the story, so don't give up! The reader was super! You will be glad you listened!

paying attention is all we have got

Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Frankie was a reporter who had the strength and character to face the truth at a time when most wanted to believe lies. She used her life to make a difference in the world. She showed us that evil is encouraged by people willfully looking away. People who develop the habit of swallowing lies rather than the truth. I hope that when people read this book they will keep in mind todays current events. The minute you stop looking for the truth and start thinking about something else, than you’ve stopped paying attention and paying attention is all we have got.

Sweet

Any additional comments?

First half is sweet and enjoyable, second half is far more gripping; still enjoyable

Wonderful!

Wonderful, compelling and the reader has a nice, calm easily understandable voice. Great book on tape!

The Postmistress

This is an interesting view of London in the early days of WWII and is the story of the intertwining of the lives of three women. The book is well written and captivating.

Worthy of the New York Times Best Seller List

I am very picky about what I read, and because this was on the NY Times Best Seller List. It was a touching story of three completely different characters. The author jumped from one story to another, but I always felt connected to the other characters when she made the change. The author did a wonderful job of bringing all the characters together in the end. I was disappointed, but pleased at the ending. Read the book and you'll understand what I mean.

Quick read. Good story.

If you could sum up The Postmistress in three words, what would they be?

historical. tragic. page-turner

Who was your favorite character and why?

Emily. I love the way she handled even the toughest situations with class and grace.

Did Orlagh Cassidy do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Not really. If she was narrating a conversation between Emily and Iris, she would pit Iris in a much deeper voice, and Emily would have a high dainty voice. But when Iris was talking to Harry, Harry had a deep voice and Iris had a higher daintier voice. It threw me off an projected Iris as rough and tumble the whole time, hearing her in such a deep voice.

I beg to differ!

I loved this book. I found the women at its heart amazing, and the story one that needs to be told and heard. Contrary to other reviewers, I thought the blend of characters worked well, voices across space and time sharing their lives in ways they might never know, in a time of intense turmoil and all too little knowing. It is not a simple or easy book; it asks you to consider tough questions of fate or chance or faith. I was enthralled.