The Postmistress

I tend to avoid novels set during WWII, as there have just been way too many of them. However, I picked up The Postmistress by Sarah Blake at my local library and found it quite interesting. Iris James, the postmistress of the novel's title, tells us in no uncertain terms that there is no such thing as a postmistress, it is simply postmaster for a man or a woman, so I do have to question the title of the novel.

Set in a small coastal town on Cape Cod, life goes on much the same as usual during the onset of WWII, while over in London, Frankie Bard makes her radio broadcasts with Edward Murrow during the Blitz.

It is a tale of two very different worlds colliding and how we tell and hear and react to the stories of what is really happening. It's a wonderfully written novel, woven together beautifully. It hooked me from the beginning.

I only wish some of the characters had been better developed, especially the doctor's wife Emma, who is central to the novel, yet she was never fully developed and I felt like we were left hanging trying to figure out what happened to her. This is true for Iris, the postmistress, as well. Frankie's character was my favorite of the three women the novel centered on.