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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Yes
My New Year’s goal for 2022 is to write more book reviews, or I guess to really get back to writing book reviews. But I haven’t felt like writing in months. And yet, there are so many books I want to share. I read a lot of sequels in 2021, more so than usual. I typically read a first book and then when the second, or third or fourth, comes out, I’ve either lost interest, or completely forgotten what happened in the first. However, this past August and September, when life was hard, I wanted nothing more than to curl up with something familiar, something I knew I liked, with relatively low stakes.
Enter Yours, Cheerfully, part of my new favorite subgenre of mid-century feminist historical fiction (to be joined in reviews later with The Kitchen Front, Bloomsbury Girls, and Lessons in Chemistry and already includes The Jane Austen Society). I didn’t realize how much I needed this subgenre, or self-invented subgenre, of historical fiction right now. Read in succession with the three aforementioned titles, I have not stopped thinking about them in the months since I finished them.
Initially, I complained about Yours, Cheerfully in a manner similar to how I complained about Dear Mrs. Bird – for a World War II novel, they were almost too cheerful. I know. Why am I complaining about something that brings me joy when the world is going to shit? Because apparently that’s what I did this year. Complain. But, as usual when it comes to my complaints, I was wrong and Yours Cheerfully is a searing look into the working conditions of the young war widows who were conscripted into war service to help their nation but were left without any support for their young children.
In 1935, a woman could get married in the UK and reasonably never have to work again. Conditions were such that a man could work to provide for and feed his family and the wife would mind the household and children. However, when war broke out and husbands enlisted or were conscripted and died, women were suddenly left to make a living wage, manage a household, and care for their small children, a situation many women find themselves in today and one that they can overwhelmingly relate to. I’ve had countless friends have children in the past two years and many have felt they had no other option but to leave the workforce to care for their children at home due to the Covid times. And lack of affordable childcare. But back to the book.
Enter our protagonist, our dear Emmeline “Emmy” Lake. Working her way up in the editorial world, Emmy is finally starting to take on lady journalist type of work over her previous work writing advice to women on the home front. While still deeply committed to offering readers of her women’s magazine honest and heartfelt advice, she jumps at the chance to pursue her dream as a journalist, while also planning an exciting war time celebration of her own.
While Emmy’s life continues to be quite “fluffy,” despite the war raging around her and in London, it is the lives of the brave women war workers that she meets that take center stage and Emmy quickly finds herself wanting to use her position to strengthen their voice in their effort for fair working hours and child care for their young children. Joining her in her efforts is, as always, her best friend Bunty, and it is a delight to see the two of them back together once more.
I’m very excited to see how A. J. Pearce continues the series as the end of the book, while concise, leaves plenty of opportunity for her to continue transporting readers to Emmy’s World War II London.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent
emotional
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:
N/A
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to the publisher, via Edelweiss, for an advance e-galley for honest review.
Emmy Lake is the absolute definition of plucky heroine, and it was a pleasure to read more of her story in Yours Cheerfully. Despite the somberness of the time she lives in and the work she's doing writing about wartime topics, Emmy generally maintains a level of optimism. She works hard in this one to advocate for the rights of women workers (it's also an interesting parallel to the challenges of working parents today). I'm hoping we get to continue reading Emmy's story and find out how things turn out for those in her circle.
Emmy Lake is the absolute definition of plucky heroine, and it was a pleasure to read more of her story in Yours Cheerfully. Despite the somberness of the time she lives in and the work she's doing writing about wartime topics, Emmy generally maintains a level of optimism. She works hard in this one to advocate for the rights of women workers (it's also an interesting parallel to the challenges of working parents today). I'm hoping we get to continue reading Emmy's story and find out how things turn out for those in her circle.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
No
lighthearted
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Charming. I can't wait for another one.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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
Yours Cheerfully was a fun, enjoyable read. Emmy Lake is a wartime advice columnist who is thrilled to be invited to help out with a Ministry of Information drive to recruit more British women war workers. But when she learns of the struggle these women face - they were often expected to do the impossible when it came to working and taking care of their children - and the unwillingness of authorities to improve their situation Emmy questions where her loyalty lies.
Emmy is a delightful character, full of energy, enthusiasm and good intentions, even if they sometimes go astray. Actually, with a couple of key exceptions, virtually all the characters were delightful.
Serendipitously, I was listening to this at the same time I was reading about women war workers in a nonfiction book (straight below this post on my feed) which enhanced my experience with both. Fiction and nonfiction have different ways of tackling topics and there’s something to be gained from both.
The spirit of the women and the sacrifices they made, sometimes willingly and sometimes unwillingly, really struck me. It put the sacrifices required to deal with Covid, and the unwillingness of many to make them, into stark perspective.
I must make special mention of the madcap caper, comedy of errors final scene. It was total frothy fun.
Since this book was set during wartime tough issues did arise. But they didn’t happen directly to the key characters, and they happened off-page and/or are only referred to obliquely. The overall tone remains relatively light.
If you are in the mood for something warm-hearted and charming with a spirited heroine this would be a great pick.
Emmy is a delightful character, full of energy, enthusiasm and good intentions, even if they sometimes go astray. Actually, with a couple of key exceptions, virtually all the characters were delightful.
Serendipitously, I was listening to this at the same time I was reading about women war workers in a nonfiction book (straight below this post on my feed) which enhanced my experience with both. Fiction and nonfiction have different ways of tackling topics and there’s something to be gained from both.
The spirit of the women and the sacrifices they made, sometimes willingly and sometimes unwillingly, really struck me. It put the sacrifices required to deal with Covid, and the unwillingness of many to make them, into stark perspective.
I must make special mention of the madcap caper, comedy of errors final scene. It was total frothy fun.
Since this book was set during wartime tough issues did arise. But they didn’t happen directly to the key characters, and they happened off-page and/or are only referred to obliquely. The overall tone remains relatively light.
If you are in the mood for something warm-hearted and charming with a spirited heroine this would be a great pick.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, War