From Amazon.com...
"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 follow's 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. "
I really wanted to love this novel. Upon opening it and reading the introduction (see Favorite Quotes), I immediately fell in love with the language and the idea of the novel.
Unfortunately, no matter what I did, I could not connect to the plot or characters. As a result, I was unable to finish this book. Reading became a chore and I found that I was picking up other books to read instead. I did stick to my Review Policy and made it through 100 pages — but I just couldn't go on. I think this has a lot to do with my inability to connect with the story, plot, or characters.
Again, I feel awful because I was so prepared to fall in love with this book. I've heard wonderful reviews! It could be because of where I'm at in my life; what with student teaching and "having" to read books that I don't choose to (such as "All Quiet on the Western Front" etc), maybe I'm just looking for something lighter and more Young Adult-ish. Because of this possibility, I'll be keeping "The Postmistress" for my bookshelves until at a later time I can pick the book up again and see if I missed the excitement due to where my life it.
I do want to say a big thanks to Lydia at Putnam books for sending this wonderful ARC. I apologize for not being able to finish it.
Favorite Quotes:
"Long ago, I believed that, given a choice, people would turn to good as they would to the light. I believed that reporting — honest, unflinching pictures of the truth — could be a beacon to lead us to demand that wrongs be righted, injustices punished, and the weak and the innocent cared for" (3).
"Every story — love or war — is a story about looking left when we should have been looking right" (3).
To the FTC, with love — this was a review copy.