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annemariep68's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook: a quick and interesting sequel to Dear Mrs. Bird. This time a closer look at the challenges facing women and particularly mothers who were doing important war work in the factories. The same characters are back and there are serious moments as well as the expected light hearted ones. Well researched with a clear picture of the highs and lows of being in the home front during WWII. Good narration again.
stefgibmc's review
3.0
This was an okay book. Emmy was perfectly charming. After reading many historical fictional novels from this time period, it just fell flat for me. Unremarkable.
lisawreading's review
4.0
In this follow-up to Dear Mrs. Bird, the story of Emmy Lake continues — although Yours Cheerfully works perfectly well as a stand-alone. Emmy is a young woman who’s just learning the journalism ropes at Woman’s Friend magazine, while also juggling her wartime volunteer work as part of the fire watch, spending time with her best friend Bunty, and squeezing in precious visits with her boyfriend Charles whenever he can get leave. It’s 1941, and the war dominates every aspect of life in London.
As the story opens, the British Ministry of Information convenes a briefing for representatives of women’s magazines, urging them to do their patriotic duty by promoting recruitment of women workers to support the war effort. For Emmy, this represents a chance to advance in her journalism career, but as she visits a munitions factory as part of her research, she learns that there’s a darker side to women’s factory work: For those with small children, childcare can be difficult to impossible to find, and women who sneak their children into the factories so they can watch them face immediate firing.
Emmy learns as well that some of these women are war widows or have husbands missing in action, so that the factory work is not only patriotic, but is essential to their families’ financial survival.
Despite the magazine needing to keep up the positive portrayal of woman’s war work, Emmy can’t help feeling that she’s letting their readers down by not advocating for more attention to the needs of the workers — especially since there are supposed to be government-funded nurseries, but only if the factory owners make the effort to make the arrangements, and apparently, many of them don’t bother.
The story of the factory workers with whom Emmy becomes friends becomes a main thread of the plot of Yours Cheerfully. Interspersed with this is Emmy’s friendship with Bunty, recovering from injury and terrible loss after events in Dear Mrs. Bird, and the story of Emmy’s romance with Charles. There are sweet romantic moments, as well as a depiction of the challenges of everyday life during war and the fragility of every moment of happiness, knowing sorrow could be just around the corner.
I enjoyed Yours Cheerfully, although it starts very slowly. My interest was slow to engage, but eventually I was drawn in by the story of the factory workers, whom we come to know as individuals, each with their own backstory, and by the ups and downs faced by Emmy and Charles as they try to juggle courtship and engagement with the realization that Charles is likely to be sent overseas at any moment.
Yours Cheerfully is a quiet book — even the moments of greater action, such as a march to promote nurseries for the munitions workers, are fairly mild affairs. The characters are all lovely, but the book doesn’t build a great sense of drama or urgency. It’s a very nice read, but I can’t say I ever felt compelled by the plot or totally engrossed.
Overall, Yours Cheerfully provides a thoughtful look at women on the homefront during war, depicting the bravery embodied in carrying on during a time of heightened tragedy and crisis, and the power of friendship and joy to see the characters through the worst of times.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
As the story opens, the British Ministry of Information convenes a briefing for representatives of women’s magazines, urging them to do their patriotic duty by promoting recruitment of women workers to support the war effort. For Emmy, this represents a chance to advance in her journalism career, but as she visits a munitions factory as part of her research, she learns that there’s a darker side to women’s factory work: For those with small children, childcare can be difficult to impossible to find, and women who sneak their children into the factories so they can watch them face immediate firing.
Emmy learns as well that some of these women are war widows or have husbands missing in action, so that the factory work is not only patriotic, but is essential to their families’ financial survival.
Despite the magazine needing to keep up the positive portrayal of woman’s war work, Emmy can’t help feeling that she’s letting their readers down by not advocating for more attention to the needs of the workers — especially since there are supposed to be government-funded nurseries, but only if the factory owners make the effort to make the arrangements, and apparently, many of them don’t bother.
The story of the factory workers with whom Emmy becomes friends becomes a main thread of the plot of Yours Cheerfully. Interspersed with this is Emmy’s friendship with Bunty, recovering from injury and terrible loss after events in Dear Mrs. Bird, and the story of Emmy’s romance with Charles. There are sweet romantic moments, as well as a depiction of the challenges of everyday life during war and the fragility of every moment of happiness, knowing sorrow could be just around the corner.
I enjoyed Yours Cheerfully, although it starts very slowly. My interest was slow to engage, but eventually I was drawn in by the story of the factory workers, whom we come to know as individuals, each with their own backstory, and by the ups and downs faced by Emmy and Charles as they try to juggle courtship and engagement with the realization that Charles is likely to be sent overseas at any moment.
Yours Cheerfully is a quiet book — even the moments of greater action, such as a march to promote nurseries for the munitions workers, are fairly mild affairs. The characters are all lovely, but the book doesn’t build a great sense of drama or urgency. It’s a very nice read, but I can’t say I ever felt compelled by the plot or totally engrossed.
Overall, Yours Cheerfully provides a thoughtful look at women on the homefront during war, depicting the bravery embodied in carrying on during a time of heightened tragedy and crisis, and the power of friendship and joy to see the characters through the worst of times.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
jo_bookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Following on from the wonderful Dear Mrs Bird, we are back with Emmeline Lake as she tries to break into some more serious journalism from her role on the women’s magazine – Women’s Friend.
Taking a more front line role in responding to the letters to the readers and inspired by the Ministry of Information’s call to get more women to take on men’s work, Emmy finds herself drawn to the Munitions’ factories.
With her close friend and housemate, Bunty they both meet a young woman, balancing life as a war widow, two young children and doing her built not just for King and country but simply for her own families survival.
Emmy finds herself drawn into these factory workers lives and the fact that they are juggling so much, she sees what these women really have to face and suddenly finds herself fighting their corner.
Alongside Emmy’s crusade for these women, helped by her friend, she is thrilled to be seeing more of her beau Charles and when an opportunity for him to more than do his bit, it seems their romance is about to speed up down the aisle.
We are yet again drawn into Emmy’s world and life on the home front during the second world war, as romances blossom and beaus are mourned. As women survive however they can without sacrificing everything they believe in, Emmy has to decide what is most important and a critical point in her life.
Although this book is set very much in the past, it resonated with me and there was something of the present battles that women are still facing to this very day. A book full of strength of female bonds, friendship and a common goal that drives them all.
I hope we get to go back between the pages of Women’s Friend as there is much more that Emmy can report on.
Taking a more front line role in responding to the letters to the readers and inspired by the Ministry of Information’s call to get more women to take on men’s work, Emmy finds herself drawn to the Munitions’ factories.
With her close friend and housemate, Bunty they both meet a young woman, balancing life as a war widow, two young children and doing her built not just for King and country but simply for her own families survival.
Emmy finds herself drawn into these factory workers lives and the fact that they are juggling so much, she sees what these women really have to face and suddenly finds herself fighting their corner.
Alongside Emmy’s crusade for these women, helped by her friend, she is thrilled to be seeing more of her beau Charles and when an opportunity for him to more than do his bit, it seems their romance is about to speed up down the aisle.
We are yet again drawn into Emmy’s world and life on the home front during the second world war, as romances blossom and beaus are mourned. As women survive however they can without sacrificing everything they believe in, Emmy has to decide what is most important and a critical point in her life.
Although this book is set very much in the past, it resonated with me and there was something of the present battles that women are still facing to this very day. A book full of strength of female bonds, friendship and a common goal that drives them all.
I hope we get to go back between the pages of Women’s Friend as there is much more that Emmy can report on.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved returning to Emmy Lake and her friends at the Women's Friend magazine set in London during WWII. In this story, Emmy gets promoted to help with two new newspaper columns and there is a lot of focus on highlighting working women's lives and the challenges they faced trying to both fill in while the men were off fighting but still manage to take care of their children and homes. There was honestly nothing I didn't like about this book. It had everything my historical fiction lover's heart craves. Based on real women's lives, strong female friendship, a swoony love story with a hard earned HEA. This was worth the wait and I hope we get more Emmy Lake adventures soon! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy.
marilynw's review
4.0
Yours Cheerfully (The Emmy Lake Chronicles #2) by A.J. Pearce
It's London, November 1941, and Emmy Lake is thriving at her job. She loves the people she works with and she's been given many more responsibilities at Woman’s Friend magazine. Getting to attend a Ministry of Information meeting for journalists opens the door for Emmy to do articles on the wartime female workers, giving their all for the war effort. It's when Emmy really gets to know some of these women, and the hardships they are facing, that she knows the magazine not only needs to promote the war effort but more importantly, they need to highlight and attempt to remedy the real, life crushing, challenges that working women face when they also have children and the other responsibilities of wartime life hindering their every step. These women are doing the same jobs that men did for much less pay, working weekends and ever changing shift work, with no help or understanding from their employers.
Although this is wartime London, and from the first book, Dear Mrs. Bird, we know the challenges and threats that all of England faces, both books have a lighthearted feel to them. I enjoy these stories and self deprecating characters that are able to support each other and find humor in the everyday strangeness of this wartime life they are living. No one is allowed to forget the loss of life and also the loss of health for those who do return from war. Wartime rationing means creativity is a part of each day and the generosity of others is often what gets people from one hour to the next. Everyone has lost someone and, for the most part, Emmy and her friends try to put a good face on each minute because that's the only way to keep going.
I love these characters, Emmy's co-workers who really care about each other, her long time friends and her family, and the new friends she makes as she tries to help the women factory workers who get no leeway when it comes to understanding the hardships of finding constant childcare for their children. Whether it's subtle or faced directly, we are always made aware of the heavy weight that the war places on each person.
Pub: Aug 10th 2021
Thank you to Book Club Favorites, Scribner, and NetGalley for this ARC.
It's London, November 1941, and Emmy Lake is thriving at her job. She loves the people she works with and she's been given many more responsibilities at Woman’s Friend magazine. Getting to attend a Ministry of Information meeting for journalists opens the door for Emmy to do articles on the wartime female workers, giving their all for the war effort. It's when Emmy really gets to know some of these women, and the hardships they are facing, that she knows the magazine not only needs to promote the war effort but more importantly, they need to highlight and attempt to remedy the real, life crushing, challenges that working women face when they also have children and the other responsibilities of wartime life hindering their every step. These women are doing the same jobs that men did for much less pay, working weekends and ever changing shift work, with no help or understanding from their employers.
Although this is wartime London, and from the first book, Dear Mrs. Bird, we know the challenges and threats that all of England faces, both books have a lighthearted feel to them. I enjoy these stories and self deprecating characters that are able to support each other and find humor in the everyday strangeness of this wartime life they are living. No one is allowed to forget the loss of life and also the loss of health for those who do return from war. Wartime rationing means creativity is a part of each day and the generosity of others is often what gets people from one hour to the next. Everyone has lost someone and, for the most part, Emmy and her friends try to put a good face on each minute because that's the only way to keep going.
I love these characters, Emmy's co-workers who really care about each other, her long time friends and her family, and the new friends she makes as she tries to help the women factory workers who get no leeway when it comes to understanding the hardships of finding constant childcare for their children. Whether it's subtle or faced directly, we are always made aware of the heavy weight that the war places on each person.
Pub: Aug 10th 2021
Thank you to Book Club Favorites, Scribner, and NetGalley for this ARC.
reneesmith's review against another edition
4.0
Magazine feature writer, Emmy charms the reader as she takes on the problems of those around her and stands up for her boss and her new friends--women war workers treated unfairly--and her best pal, Bunty. We get to see more of her brave & decent boyfriend, Charles, and catch a glimpse of the in-it-together spirit of the good-hearted British citizens during WWII. I'm a fan of this series!
abbywdan's review
3.0
Oh these cute, plucky broads. I felt like this fizzled out a little, but I’d be happy to read another one if it comes out.
eleanorrosecugal's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
4.5
hannahreadsmoer's review
4.0
THE ULTIMATE RELATIONSHIP IN THIS SERIES IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMMY AND BUNNY. DAVE TOLD ME I WAS A “SIGHT” BECAUSE OF MY WEEPING OVER THEM. THANJS AND GOOD DAY.