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In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say, and believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn't deliver it.
Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can't touch them. But both Iris and Frankie know better...
The Postmistress is a tale of two worlds-one shattered by violence, the other willfully naïve-and of two women whose job is to deliver the news, yet who find themselves unable to do so. Through their eyes, and the eyes of everyday people caught in history's tide, it examines how stories are told, and how the fact of war is borne even through everyday life.
Sarah taught high school and college English for many years in Colorado and New York. She has taught fiction workshops at the Fine Arts Works Center in Provincetown, MA, The Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD, the University of Maryland, and George Washington University. She lives in Washington, DC.
"In the three summers while I was in college, I tried out three different lives in my summer jobs -- full immersion: intern at an Art Auction house in NYC; kitchen girl at a dude ranch in Montana; jewelry store clerk in a tiny shop on an island off the coast of Sicily. I took the immersion a little too close to heart for my mother -- after the second summer, in my incarnation as a cowgirl, I announced I was thinking about quitting college, marrying the cowboy I was dating there, and becoming a rancher. How could I not? The cowboy left me love letters hidden in the horn of my saddle."
"I am a big gardener and re-arranger of furniture. The two are inextricably related, in my mind, to my writing. When I can't figure out a scene, or when I'm stumped as to why a character makes a certain choice -- I go out and dig, and plot and plan and rearrange. In the winter, handily, there are similar chances to plot and plan and rearrange inside the house. When I get an idea in my head about how a room might look, I am completely obsessed with trying it out, right then and there. One night I was certain that the problem with our living room was the rug and that the answer to the problem lay upstairs on the third floor in my son's bedroom. Never mind that it was eleven o'clock and he was fast asleep, and the bed he slept in lay squarely on top of the rug. I jimmied and lifted and snatched the rug out from under the sleeping child, hauled it down the three flights, and then lifted and lowered and hauled the furniture around down in the living room. By the time my husband came home at midnight, I had just finished rolling the rug out in the living room. We both stared at it. It was completely and totally wrong."
"I come from a big family of singers-around the campfire, in a cappella groups in school, in the back of the car -- and I love to sing, love to hear singing. Similarly, I grew up listening to grown ups talking at dinner, extending dinner late into the night, all of us ranged around a big table in the house my grandparents bought in the "30s in Maine. My idea of happiness is just that: many faces, many generations, much discussion, candles and talk while the dishes shift in the sink."
"I love fog. I love rain. I love the moment right after a play ends -- the second of pure silence when everyone in the theatre, actors and audience, are joined -- before the clapping starts and the actors bow and we pick up our lives again."
This novel should become a real masterpiece. Sarah Blake captures the reader, transplants them into the late 1930's and early 1940's, and places them in the minds and bodies of those living before and during World War II. From a small New England town Frankie Bard went to London and researched news and interest for Edward R. Murrow, the voice America knew as he reported for CBS from London and vicinity during that war. Frankie eventually started doing her small bits on Mr. Murrow's show. Her voice also became known from her own human-interest stories and news.
The area was a sea of bombed and burned out buildings from which the residents of the area fled when the warning sirens went off and hustled to get underground to the protected shelters. As they stayed in those crowded shelters they could hear bombs going off above and feel the blast of the shells. They could smell the burning buildings, and taste the dust that crept into every corner of the city, above and beneath ground.
Back in the United States Iris James became the Postmistress of the post office that happened to be in the same town where Frankie Bard lived. The town was directly on the coast with some of those in town always on the lookout for German submarines surfacing off their coast. The war was far away but one never knew about the Germans and their war machine. Emma and Will Fitch had married. Will was the town doctor. Will got the urge to go to England to help all the wounded but of course, Emma was dead set against that. She knew after a short time that Will would never be happy until he did leave and tend to those in misery. Little did Will know that Emma was pregnant when he left and he would not find out as long as he was away.
The descriptions sent out to the world by Frankie and Edward Murrow gave an idea of just how bad London and surrounding areas had been hit but still the people were so resilient that they bounced back. Of course there were casualties, wounded and dead, but those able had to carry on, and they indeed did. The United States was not in the war yet even though many around the world felt they should be. Frankie asked permission of Edward Murrow to go to Germany and other nations under their control to report what she was able. Being American she could travel fairly easy but when she did travel, the brutality she saw hurt her deeply. She reported it as well as possible but the censors stopped all but the normal news, or in some situations she could "code" words or phrases to get the news out. She saw the persecution of the Jews, the killing of those considered a "danger" to the Germans, the torture of humans, and the hurt imposed on their daily lives.
Frankie had a primitive recording device she used to record the sounds and voices of those she met along the way. When she ran out of recording discs she recorded over at least one of them not knowing what would be on that disc. Frankie eventually and suddenly went home to try to recoup her mind and body but there was no way to get the horrible things she had seen out of her memory. She tried to fit into the small town again but had a very hard time talking to people. She kept seeing and hearing things from her trip. She played and replayed the discs.
Here I will stop describing this fantastic book. By now you have to have whetted your minds appetite to read this book. If "Postmistress" doesn't win a lot of writing awards I will be very disappointed. S
20 out of 23 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Postmistress is a novel focusing on three American women in the early days of World War II, prior to the US entering the war. The title itself is misleading; the postmistress of the town is a main character, but she certainly isn't the focus of the book.
The book jacket's description describes a letter not being delivered, which implies that it is a key turning point; I found that once this happened (halfway through the novel) the fact that it was not delivered was irrelevant to the story. There are a number of other plot points that I found to be either not relevant or not fully resolved by the end.
I really wanted to love this book, and there are passages that are excellent, but as a whole I was disappointed.
16 out of 22 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Postmistress is Sarah Blake's debut novel. A literary masterpiece set in pre WW11 America she gives us a glimpse of what life was like. She gives us colorful and unforgettable characters as she takes us through war torn Europe and she does it with grace and style. She keeps you entertained while straining your emotions and pulling your heartstrings.
Sarah's story is one that's been told a thousand times, a story about life just before and during WW11, but she throws in a twist, a twist called fate and what happens when fate is challenged. And that twist makes this plot so unique. She takes us on a journey with her wonderful descriptive dialogue. She is an amazing storyteller and her words took me to those places from her book and I could see the aftermath of bomb stricken London and pre WW11 small town USA. But what she surely excels in is her characters who are all so well defined and developed that they actually appear three dimensional to me. She takes us right to the heart of her story and shows us faces of the forgotten in Europe and let's us hear their voices. She has strong women characters and shows us just what they're made of. It's a tale of love and loss, of heartache and heartbreak, of friendship, cruelty and hate, hopelessness but most of all hope.
So come on a trip through time and experience this wonderful, dynamic and unforgettable read for yourself. It's a must read for all lovers of recent historical fiction, lovers of literary fiction and those of us who love all that plus an unforgettable read.
13 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 14, 2010
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I'm not usually into war stories but I DO enjoy the demonstration of the good in people.
This novel of historical fiction is divided into four parts, each part relating to a season in the year of 1941. The author takes you through a year in the life of three female characters and the men that mean a lot to them. The characters are complex.
Throughout, the author's descriptions are detailed and three-dimensional. You can almost feel their presence. The war and each character's reactions to it are fleeting and ever present in our daily lives.
The story is compelling. It's not just a war story, it's a story about our past and our future. The book is about making decisions and about being able to live with those decisions afterward, about what defines us as human, what separates us from others and what brings us together. Well worth your time!
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 4, 2010
If you're part of a Reading Group don't skip this gem. Terrific characters, a historical setting, unusual plot twists and thoughtful examination of the effects of hard times and love upon husbands, wives,lovers,reporters and civil servants are blended beautifully here. You'll glimpse the London Blitz, the coast watchers searching for U-Boats, the first stirrings of the terrors of Nazi occupation, as well as the solace of love and acceptance, the strength of community and the need to forge one's own path no matter the personal cost.
Sarah Blake has written a deeply satisfying tale of love and war with emotion, suspense and intelligence like none you've read before.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 24, 2009
I fell in love with this cover. When the book arrived I actually squeeled and petted the book. It has a great cover...colors, textures, all of it. Perfect.
That's where my adoration ended. I just can't get into this book. I like the idea of the story, but it just gets buried under the strikingly heavy descriptions of the war and the more-often-than-not confusing transitions between characters. I want to finish this so badly....but I just can't force myself through any more of it.
5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Mom_of_two_boysMA
Posted July 10, 2010
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The descrption of this book really intrigued me and the idea the author had was great, but it was so boring! She could have done so much more with it, I think. I found myself not at all caring about the characters and it was pretty predictable. The only thing I liked about it was that it gave me a bit of an inside view into WWII and I (being NOT a history buff) learned things I wasn't aware of (if they're true). But I would not recommend this to anyone, being a mom of two young boys I rarely get to read and found this to be a waste of time. The only reason I finished it was that I hoped for a great twist. Never happened.
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 26, 2011
Boring so I am glad I checked it out and brought it back the same day. It should be a cheaper B&N ebook but this just shows that the new toy I bought is only good for travel. Nook books are nice but you can't even trade them with friends and the LEND BOOK function is a joke since you can't lend most of your books.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.THE POSTMISTRESS is a book that will linger with me for many reasons...not all positive. At the heart of Sarah Blake's novel is Frankie Bard's question "What would happen if a Postmistress failed to deliver a letter?" In 1940 such an action would've been disastrous when letters and the telegraph were the main forms of personal communications. And in Franklin, MA when the letters from a young Doctor to his wife stop arriving from London during the Blitz, Iris James - the Village's spinster Postmaster, understands the implications for she has heard CBS Radio Gal Frankie Bard's vivid reportage of the raging London raids, while allowing his pregnant bride to hope and believe he is busy saving lives there, not knowing that Emma Fitch had asked her husband Will to "prove that people stay alive." But when a letter finally arrives the next June from London not in Dr. Fitch's hand, the Postmaster steams open, reads, and pockets the letter, silently promising to deliver it to Emma after the baby comes. After all, she thinks, no official word has come through, the telegraph had been silent. Surely word would come through official channels if the reason for Will's silence was bad, wouldn't it? Both Emma and Frankie know people are here one day and are not the next day, and Iris would learn that hard lesson too. I wanted to scream to Iris, "READ THAT POCKETED LETTER AGAIN!" Frankie too has a letter from the young doctor that she carries with her as she does with the disks of the voices of the "refugees" she has ridden the rails with from Germany to the border of Spain - not able to deliver the news beyond the edge of the snapshots she and Edward Murrow give their radio audiences. Blake never tells us why, which is a shame, but does put Will Fitch and Frankie in a funky bomb shelter together and she is the only one in the story besides the reader whom knows why the young doctor has gone silent. Though he loves his young bride and looks for her face in every woman, he is not going back home. He is happy in war and his work in London. "It all adds up," he tells the radio gal. How? Blake again fails to tell us. But we do know him and Iris's lover, Harry Vale. Franklin's Mechanic and Watchman can't believe he's won the love of the redheaded postmaster who wears the wrong shade of red lipstick at his age. Conversely he understands that he is the village idiot for believing the Germans are coming, but he continues his visual a top of Franklin's town hall awaiting the German U-Boat that finally comes. We know his cottage mate who walks along the dunes staring out to France to catch a glimpse of the "refugee" he is waiting for. Blake is excellent in her characterization of the men while lacking in the women, in whom the readers are to have a vested interest: Frankie and Iris who are afraid to deliver the news and Emma whom is afraid to hear it. Also, the writing confused me. While Blake shines in the radio vignettes and her seamless transitions from London to Franklin, the three women's stories were like an unfocused photograph that was cropped in the wrong place. I wanted to slap Emma ALL throughout the book and I wanted to know more about Iris and Frankie. What happened to them after Emma and Harry's stories ended? What posessed Iris to get the Certificate from the Boston doctor? Why did Frankie slink out of London and how? Was she suffering "shell shock" as Harry infomed Iris?
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 19, 2010
This was so well written by author. Full of feeling although she is of a different generation.
Style of writing is unique without being unintelligible for average reader.Having lived through WW11 in USA,data was believable.
Will keep this book on the shelf.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 30, 2009
I believe it was John Cheever who said that a good book is where one hears the rain and the noise of battle. By this standard, The Postmistress is a great success.
I read about 50 books a year. The Postmistress is easily in my top 5 favorite books read in 2009 and is hands down the most thought provoking, affecting book I've read this year.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I had a really hard time getting into this book, and in the beginning I almost gave it up. But I told myself to give it 100 pages. If I didn't "feel it" by then, I would abandon it. The writing style in beginning of the book was so manic and clipped that I had a hard time following it. It didn't "flow" for me. I have to assume that this was intentional, displaying the mania of the war and the brevity of life. I felt no connection to the characters. I couldn't even keep the characters straight, and didn't know who was who.
But around chapter four things shifted, and became more enjoyable for me. I got a handle on who I was dealing with in the story, and the dialogue flowed.
The time is 1940, and on the other side of the world a war is engaged. When the book starts out, America is relatively unaffected by the war. We see the idyllic life of a young girl Emma, freshly married and moving to be with her new husband Will in a quiet northeastern coastal town. Will is the town doctor, and he and Emma are young, naive and in love, but Will has his own ghosts to deal with.
At the same time we are introduced to the Postmistress Iris. Actually we are introduced to Iris in the opening chapters of the book before anyone else in a very odd way, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone by disclosing how we are introduced to her.
But I will say that Iris seemed symbolic to me of the US at this time-- intact and untouched. Likewise Will and Emma sort of start out this way, young and in love and warm and cozy in their little cocoon. But then the cruelties of life begin to creep in and the cocoon begins to unravel.
We are also introduced to Frankie Bard- a reporter covering the story in Europe. Tough and somewhat "untouchable" in the beginning, she softens as the story goes on, becoming much more vulnerable.
It's funny. The first 50 pages were my least favorite of the book, and the last 50 were my most enjoyable.
This book was "okay". It just wasn't consistent for me. I'd like it, then it would drag, then I'd like it, and then it'd drag. I'd connect with moments, but for the most part I felt somewhat detached from the story. It just never really did "grab" me.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The book follows the lives of three women in the months immediately preceding the United States involvement in World War II. Iris the new postmaster of Franklin, Mass., is very businesslike, proper, without being prim, and interested in doing the best job she can for the people of her town. Emma, is the fragile looking, out-of-town, newly married wife of the local doctor. Frankie, on the other hand, is a war correspondent in London, broadcasting her impressions of the war back to the people safely at home in the U.S. The paths of these three woman will come to a focal point as the U.S. is drawn to the brink of war. We are reminded in these pages of the endless cruelty of war, the power of love and of loss, the reasons why we have to carry on after senseless tragedy, and the wonderful gift a simple act of kindness can be. Very well written, the book quickly envelopes you in the lives of the characters, with enough twists and surprises to keep you eagerly turning the pages.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 19, 2009
A stunning debut novel. Set in the early 1940's the novel follows the intersecting paths of three women as they experience the wrath of the war in Europe and wonder when and if the US will be drawn into the trenches.
Readers will be drawn-in by the well rounded personalities and compelling setting. The timing of this book release couldn't be better. Book clubs will enjoy contrasting the stories in the book with current world events.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 8, 2010
Interesting from a historical perspective regarding mood in the U.S. prior to involvement in WWII. However, the characters and story build so slowly and the story line is very predictable. There's no intrigue. I was fairly bored until about two-thirds into the book. Just kept reading to see what would eventually happen.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 12, 2010
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Too young to know or appreciate the agonies of what lead up to the USA coming into WWII, I was fascinated and horrified by the real descriptions of the Blitz in London, the exodus of the Jews and other foreigners from their homes and possessions, the difficulties experienced and the inhumanities suffered before the war began in earnest.
The life of a reporter, especially a woman, in 1940 is shown to perfection in a male oriented world. Having experienced the similar boarding school and women's college in the East at a much later date, it was easy to understand the uniqueness and drive of Frankie. The dedication of the postmistress, the innocence of the young bride, the conflict of the young town doctor, the town mechanic - all seem to be archetypes of the era. The author adds to the authenticity by including names of real newscasters of the time who lasted way beyond the '40's. A very worthwhile read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Back in March, I posted that I had the great pleasure to attend a reading and book signing for Sarah Blake's The Postmistress, from Amy Einhorn Books of G.P. Putnam's Sons. It was fascinating to hear the creative process behind the book, a fictional novel about three women's lives that collide during World War II.
Blake described the research that she did for this remarkable novel. She began with Iris James, the postmistress of a small community on Cape Cod. Iris took her job very seriously, believing deeply in the order of government, truth and that mail must be delivered.
Emma was a young bride, in love with her young doctor husband Will, who leaves her behind, pregnant, while he goes off to help the war effort in England after an unfortunate outcome for a patient shakes his belief in himself.
The most intriguing character is Frankie Bard, a young female reporter who travels to England and ends up as war correspondent working with Edward R. Murrow. When I was a young girl, I wanted be like Brenda Starr, the strong reporter from the comic strip. After reading this novel, I want to be Frankie Bard. (Blake wrote in my book "So glad you're a Frankiephile"!)
Frankie fights to bring the truth of the war to her listeners. The most intense, gripping part of the story takes place when Frankie is on a train traveling through France to Spain. The train is filled with people, many of them Jewish, fleeing the Nazis. The tension on the train is palpable, and Blake writes those scenes with such realism, you can feel your heart beating through your chest as these people are praying to make it to safety.
Frankie hopes to get some people to speak into her new recording device, determined to bring the tapes back to England and allow the people of America to hear the truth in the words of people who fear for their lives. (At this point, the American people are not aware of the atrocities the Nazis are inflicting on Jews and other people.)
Blake parallels Frankie trying to bring the truth of the war to Americans who were confused and uninformed with reporters who were trying to bring the truth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. She likens the fear in America following Pearl Harbor to the fear and uncertainty we felt after 9/11.
The Postmistress feels authentic, thanks to Blake's research at The Radio & Television Museum in Bowie, Maryland. She listened to recordings made by Mary Marvin Breckinridge, Betty Wason, and Martha Gellhorn, female war correspondents, and they inspired the fascinating character of Frankie.
In the end, Frankie and Iris must make a decision that requires them to question whether they can uphold their beliefs about truth and duty. This gripping novel, filled with strong characterizations, asks us to question our own beliefs in the face of adversity as well.
Amy Einhorn, whom I was lucky enough to meet at the signing, has a gift for finding talented writers with a fresh, strong voice. I've read Kathyrn Stockett's The Help, Diana Joseph's I'm Sorry You Feel That Way, and Kelly O'Connor McNees's The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott from Amy Einhorn Books, and loved them all. I look forward to any book from this imprint.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 14, 2010
I kept waiting for something significant to happen and it didn't. The characters and plot were predictable and not well developed. I didn't care much about them. The idea of NOT delivering news to the pregnant wife was ridiculous. Who did those people think they were? My book club read this and not one person liked it or would recommend it. I expected a lot better based on print reviews.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 14, 2010
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The Postmistress is a wonderfully written book that pulls you into the lives of Americans as World War II begins to unfold in Europe. The story brings to life characters as their lives change along with the changes in the war effort.
I feel the story's main character is Frankie Bard, who is not the Postmistress of Franklin, MA but who, as a reporter, holds the future of one of Franklin's residents in her hands. She sees the war first hand and is most hard hit with the reality of the war's violence. She is only able to report back certain details that must meet the censor's requirements. She is unable to tell the whole story at times and carries the pain within herself. She travels to Franklin, MA on a personal mission to tell a very sad story but later cannot bring herself to complete the task.
Individual stories later weave together based on their connections to the town. The postmistress, Iris James, senses the stress that is hitting the community as the war becomes more violent and as stories of horrific acts against Jewish communities reach the states - mainly through Frankie Bard's radio broadcasts from Europe. The post office becomes the hub of activity as citizens await word from oversees and want updates from the latest broadcast. Iris has a front row view of her community and also carries the personal pain of her friends.
This book was hard to put down as Sarah Blake's writing vividly brought each scene to life. She also was able to provide such detail that you personally felt the suspense, pain and frustration of the characters. For as serious of a topic, there were moments of pleasure and enjoyment that helped lighten the overall tone of the topic.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 20, 2010
I did think it was thought provoking and it was interesting at times, but I prefer mysteries. The two main women characters were strong, and had good work ethic, but they were portrayed as lonely (no hope for me) women. It was a depressing book about a sad era during German occupation in Europe. Ms Blake certainly knows how to catch passionate emotions and put them to print. And the main men in the book died, no one seemed to have a good, long lasting relationship. The doctor's father was an alcoholic, Emma's lost her family at a young age, oh Frankie had a caring mother, but it seemed everyone was unhappy all the time.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
The New York Times bestseller- "A beautifully written, thought-provoking novel." -#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Stockett.In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say, and believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn't deliver it.
Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can't ...