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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An adequate WWII book about life in London and the women supporting the war effort. The characters feel a bit two dimensional. I think I preferred the first one.
informative
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book. For a WWII novel, it felt light but also included some important topics I hadn't considered before. I really liked both Emmy and Bunty and definitely want to read the next book in the series now!
I really enjoyed this sequel to 'Dear Mrs Bird', all of my favourite characters returned along with some new ones. You did not have to have read the previous book but it helped give context to relationships.
Emmeline Lake is still working at the 'Woman's Friend' magazine but this time she has much more responsibility in the renamed 'Cheerfully Yours' problem page. Set in 1941, the war is still raging, many women are now being conscripted to carry out war work as the men are away fighting. The problem page letters are really moving and give a lot more detail into what every day life was like for women of all ages and circumstances.
On the train to visit a munition's factory for a feature, Emmy meets a young woman and her family who shows them the real dilemmas working women face. It made me think about the comparisons between women today trying to juggle childcare and employment.
Emmy takes her role very seriously wanting to do her bit for the war effort and help those around her. She is such a loveable character along with the plucky Bunty. Yours cheerfully was a really comforting read, I really hope there will be another book.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Emmeline Lake is still working at the 'Woman's Friend' magazine but this time she has much more responsibility in the renamed 'Cheerfully Yours' problem page. Set in 1941, the war is still raging, many women are now being conscripted to carry out war work as the men are away fighting. The problem page letters are really moving and give a lot more detail into what every day life was like for women of all ages and circumstances.
On the train to visit a munition's factory for a feature, Emmy meets a young woman and her family who shows them the real dilemmas working women face. It made me think about the comparisons between women today trying to juggle childcare and employment.
Emmy takes her role very seriously wanting to do her bit for the war effort and help those around her. She is such a loveable character along with the plucky Bunty. Yours cheerfully was a really comforting read, I really hope there will be another book.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
3.5 stars
I definitely enjoyed this sequel much more than the first book, Dear Mrs. Bird, which I had read right before this one. While the story continued more or less where the first one left off and the characters were all the same (with the exception of Mrs. Bird of course), I think I took to this book better perhaps because I kind of knew what to expect already — and perhaps that’s also why I found the main character Emmy Lake a little less annoying this time around (though yes, she did still frustrate me at certain points).
With Mrs Bird’s departure from Women’s Friend magazine (not a spoiler, as it’s in the book summary and she’s already gone when the story opens), Mr. Collins has been promoted to Editor (no surprise there either, lol). After what happened at the end of the first book, Emmy is back with the magazine again, but on a probationary basis. While the magazine’s advice column continues to be a focus, the crux of the story this time around is on the government’s call to all of Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit female workers for the war effort. As Emmy immerses herself in this task, she meets a few of the women who work at the munitions factories and soon realizes that, while they are all happy to contribute to the effort, there are real-life challenges they face that makes the war work much more difficult for them. When Emmy learns about their plight, she of course steps in and tries to help them any which way she can.
I think the direction that the author A.J. Pearce took with the story as well as with the characters this time around made so much more sense than the first book. I’m not sure how best to put it, but I felt like most of Emmy’s actions in the first book were too over the top, to the point that it felt unrealistic and contrived. With this second go around though, her actions were more in line with her role in the sense that it made sense for her to constantly insert herself in situations, but in a more tempered way. Just for the record…I don’t have a problem with Emmy’s personality — in fact, I like the way her character was headstrong, curious, assertive, and always willing to stand up for what she believed in as well as help others, which was especially significant given the time period — what I actually had a problem with was the “bull in a china shop” approach that she seemed to apply to every single situation, especially at work. For example, in the first book, Emmy’s job as a newbie at the magazine was to open letters and give them to her boss to review and type up a response, however because she doesn’t like the restrictive (and rude) nature of her boss’s responses, she decides to take matters into her own hands by deliberately defying her boss’s instructions and writing letters to readers on her own (as well as sneaking some of her letters into the magazine itself). While it’s fine to disagree and question how her boss does things, it’s not fine, especially in her position, to go in and start changing things on her own (obviously, there were more rational ways to approach the situation than the way she did). In the second book, I assume because she has learned her lesson, Emmy’s approach was a little more mature and above board (and as I mentioned earlier, definitely less grating on my nerves). I point all this out because I appreciate seeing characters grow and evolve in stories and even though in this case, it took a sequel for it to happen, I’m still glad to see it.
For those who read and loved Dear Mrs. Bird, I definitely recommend picking this one up, as I believe you’ll love it just as much as the first (maybe even more). For those like me who may not have been a fan of the first book, I still recommend reading this one, as it did put the first book into better perspective for me (even though it didn’t change my feelings overall toward the story and characters).
Received ARC from Scribner via NetGalley.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Grief
Yours Cheerfully begins where it’s predecessor, Dear Mrs. Bird, left off, (though it’s not necessary to have read the former to enjoy the latter) as the small staff of Women’s Friend magazine adjust to recent arrivals and departures. Junior journalist, Emmeline (Emmy) Lake is happy to be assisting the new agony aunt, but is excited when editor, Guy Collins, invites her to attend a meeting at the Ministry of Information with him. There, the government asks that women’s magazines actively assist in recruiting for the war effort, and Emmy is delighted when Guy gives her permission to develop a feature on women beginning work at a munitions factory, inspired by a chance meeting on a train.
Set during WWII, Yours Cheerfully is focused on England’s homefront as women are encouraged to enter the workplace, particularly in industrial factory settings, to both fill vacancies left by the men joining the armed forces, and cater for the needed increase in production of essential resources like arms and munitions. In general, women were eager to ‘support the boys’, but as Pearce explores in Yours Cheerfully, little thought was given to the needs of working women with children. This presents Emmy with a dilemma as she can’t honestly report on the problem in her Women’s Friend feature, but she desperately wants to help her new friends, and women like them, resolve the stalemate caused by a lack of available childcare.
It’s not all work for Emmy though, there is romance as her beau, Captain Charles Mayhew continues to visit as often as he can while he is stationed in London, and her best friend and housemate Bunty is as sweet and supportive as ever, even as she continues to recover from injuries incurred in the bombing that killed her fiancé. The characters in Yours Cheerfully are almost universally appealing, including the staff at Women’s Friend and the group of women Emmy becomes involved with at the factory. I really enjoyed the way in which Pearce captured the spirit of camaraderie and friendship that typified wartime Britain..
Charming and warm hearted with just a touch of the era’s poignancy Yours Cheerfully is an engaging historical novel certain to leave you smiling.
Set during WWII, Yours Cheerfully is focused on England’s homefront as women are encouraged to enter the workplace, particularly in industrial factory settings, to both fill vacancies left by the men joining the armed forces, and cater for the needed increase in production of essential resources like arms and munitions. In general, women were eager to ‘support the boys’, but as Pearce explores in Yours Cheerfully, little thought was given to the needs of working women with children. This presents Emmy with a dilemma as she can’t honestly report on the problem in her Women’s Friend feature, but she desperately wants to help her new friends, and women like them, resolve the stalemate caused by a lack of available childcare.
It’s not all work for Emmy though, there is romance as her beau, Captain Charles Mayhew continues to visit as often as he can while he is stationed in London, and her best friend and housemate Bunty is as sweet and supportive as ever, even as she continues to recover from injuries incurred in the bombing that killed her fiancé. The characters in Yours Cheerfully are almost universally appealing, including the staff at Women’s Friend and the group of women Emmy becomes involved with at the factory. I really enjoyed the way in which Pearce captured the spirit of camaraderie and friendship that typified wartime Britain..
Charming and warm hearted with just a touch of the era’s poignancy Yours Cheerfully is an engaging historical novel certain to leave you smiling.