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lila4th's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Slow read and had to restart 3 times. Really picks up for the middle 100 pages or so but overall wouldn’t recommend it to a friend. Loved the historical fiction aspect but the entire plot is steeped in death and loss.
jlynn69's review against another edition
3.0
The book was easy reading and interesting- but the story just didn't totally come together like I thought it might. It was okay.
rainbowsparkle7x's review against another edition
4.0
This book carried an onward motion with it that made it hard to put down. I got swept away on the tide of these woman's lives, especially Frankie as she made her way across Europe during the war. What stood out to me beyond the emotional impact of the story is the thread of "Ostrich Syndrome" that runs through America. Famous last words, "oh that would never happen today" as they said in 1940 while Jewish families were being massacred and so many looked the other way, unwilling to see what was happening. No one wants to believe that the world, that people, could be so cruel and heartless. Beautiful story, with a sad and solemn message. Pay attention, as Frankie says.
pammella's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this as an audio book. I chose the book from the library at random and almost decided not to listen once I read some of the reviews. There probably are better WWII stories, but this story made me consider the refugees in a way I had not before. Though it has nothing to do with the story, I had never realized how prevalent cigarette smoking was in the 1940's!
nancy33's review against another edition
2.0
I started it and just can't motivate myself to continue.......zzzz
tlbuckman's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
nbranca628's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
lanica's review against another edition
5.0
This is a great example of 'Literary Fiction'. It's not suspense, adventure, romance, historical fiction...but has all those elements combined in a beautifully written story. I enjoyed the texture, teh words, the tension, the emotions...all of it.
traceyelder's review against another edition
2.0
See Becky's review - she sums up my thoughts perfectly! Just a so-so book and the writing was way too flowery for me...
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
5.0
The Postmistress is a novel of if. "If I tell this story in exactly the right way, people will hear it and act on it," thinks the reporter. "If I don't make mistakes, the system will be perfect and chaos and random chance will be kept at bay," thinks the postmistress. "If I think hard enough about my husband being safe, he will be," thinks the woman left at home as her husband goes off to London during the Blitz. But if is a double-edged word and sometimes it falls the other way, and we're left thinking, "If only I had done this or hadn't done that, then this other thing would never have happened."
Beautiful. I opened this novel, already in love with the cover, and fell in love with the writing contained within. It's not a beauty that keeps you at arm's distance. It's a beauty that seductively whispers, "Come closer. Read what I have to say. See what I'm showing you." And then it shows you the chaos of war, and how helpless we are before it. It shows you how it's human nature to avoid seeing what we don't want to see, or to avoid acting when it's easier to stay safely at home with our heads in the sand.
Haunting. I am going to be haunted by Frankie's story for a long time. I should perhaps relate more to the wife than the reporter, but Frankie's stories have left a mark on my soul. She's in London, and then she's in Europe in the refugee trains, and all the time she is beating against the world's indifference, shouting, "This is happening, and it's happening in numbers you can't imagine. And it's getting worse every day. Pay attention! Please, just pay attention." And the world doesn't pay attention, and the horror worsens.
Read it. It's not always easy; war stories never are. But we still have a duty to pay attention, even--or perhaps especially--to the past.
Beautiful. I opened this novel, already in love with the cover, and fell in love with the writing contained within. It's not a beauty that keeps you at arm's distance. It's a beauty that seductively whispers, "Come closer. Read what I have to say. See what I'm showing you." And then it shows you the chaos of war, and how helpless we are before it. It shows you how it's human nature to avoid seeing what we don't want to see, or to avoid acting when it's easier to stay safely at home with our heads in the sand.
Haunting. I am going to be haunted by Frankie's story for a long time. I should perhaps relate more to the wife than the reporter, but Frankie's stories have left a mark on my soul. She's in London, and then she's in Europe in the refugee trains, and all the time she is beating against the world's indifference, shouting, "This is happening, and it's happening in numbers you can't imagine. And it's getting worse every day. Pay attention! Please, just pay attention." And the world doesn't pay attention, and the horror worsens.
Read it. It's not always easy; war stories never are. But we still have a duty to pay attention, even--or perhaps especially--to the past.