Emmeline Lake's first foray into journalism does not go as planned. Instead of being appointed as a war correspondent, she finds herself typing up letters for an agony aunt - Henrietta Bird - that is, when the letters are deemed worthy of a response. When the naive and relentlessly cheerful Emmy takes it upon herself to reply to the discarded letters, there are ... consequences. And that's just her day job. At night, Emmy and her best friend Bunty are working hard, shoulder-to-shoulder with their London neighbours, rebuffing the Luftwaffe and exemplifying the spirit of the Blitz.
With its pitch-perfect 'jolly hockey sticks' writing style and its stiff upper lip depiction of everyday life on the home front, this is a gently amusing and uplifting story of courage and friendship amidst adversity. As Emmy would advise: Keep calm ... and carry on reading!
TAUR 010
08-06-2023
Most thoroughly enjoyed this light and easy read. Two people didn't like it - they found the use of capital letters annoying, amongst other things.
WINT 001
28-04-2023
An easy read but some felt they had read similar books before. One aspect it covered well was the role of women and how their efforts were unrecognized as they were not seen to be as important as those fighting, yet they held the country together.
CHCH 257
14-03-2023
An easy read. Somewhat wordy and predictable - but delightful.
RICH 005
23-11-2022
A lighthearted quick read, that some of our group found to be a bit shallow and the characters to be unbelievable, but overall we liked the book.
WHANG 015
01-08-2022
Not the type of book we would normally get, but an enjoyable light weight read in mid winter.
DUNED 089
17-11-2021
A well researched novel using language appropriate to the era. One of our members from Britain has a magazine with articles/letters similar to those portrayed in the book. However overall the group thought it was 'lightweight', and would not recommend it to others as a good read.
AUCK 234
24-09-2021
Easy read. Entertaining. Enjoyable. "No unpleasantness"!
WIND 001
08-09-2021
Loved it.
AUCK 116
03-09-2021
On the whole we enjoyed the book - light and easy read. Good graphic descriptions of air raids. A book about friendship.
CHCH 344
07-07-2021
Light and fun and easy to read.
WAIKA 002
02-06-2021
A light read, we enjoyed it.
HAST 007
31-05-2021
Loved by all.
CHCH 383
14-05-2021
Most of the group enjoyed it. Impressed with how the writer portrayed the war years.
TEAWA 004
16-04-2021
Great read. Thoroughly enjoyed by all.
ASHB 017
24-03-2021
Everyone read and loved this book. Fantastic book to start our year off with.
DANNE 002
24-03-2021
Most members enjoyed the book. It brought back memories for some, of their grandparents. People enjoyed the quaint old-fashioned language and sayings. An easy read, and generally a pleasant story set in difficult times.
AUCK 271
17-03-2021
Mixed response from our group. A very simplistic novel. It was easy to read and did enhance some imagery about this time in history. Not a favourite read as it was a little formulaic.
CHCH 113
09-12-2020
The group all enjoyed this as a lighter read, and it got us all discussing 'agony aunt' columns in magazines that we used to read years ago. We felt that the 'unpleasant' letters that Mrs Bird refused to reply to, were very tame by today's standards!!
TEPUK 006
09-12-2020
Not a great read. Some members found the Blitz interesting.
AUCK 122
12-10-2020
Easy read.
TAIH 002
22-09-2020
We enjoyed the book - very graphic descriptions of the blitz during the war which brought a new understanding of how it would have been. But it was not a book we would remember.
AUCK 090
04-09-2020
Enjoyed the gentle lightness of this book.
RICH 009
21-08-2020
Nicely written. Easy reading.
HOKITIK 002
14-08-2020
Fun, lighthearted read in an interesting war-time setting.
