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micasreads's review against another edition
3.0
The true story of a marriage bureau, the first of its kind, in London around World War II. An idea that many saw as an impossibility, two young women knew they could make work. Heather Jennifer and Mary Oliver succeeded when no one thought they could. The book begins just prior to the decision to open the Bureau and ends on its 10th anniversary. The Bureau helped 3,000 couples meet and find love.
The book was a quick read that detailed stories of the owners and those who they interviewed. They go through their application process and tell horror stories of some of their worst clients. They also detail heartbreaking stories of some of their poorer customers who were looking for someone to grow old with. It wasn't exactly the book I thought it would be but it was still a fairly decent read.
The book was a quick read that detailed stories of the owners and those who they interviewed. They go through their application process and tell horror stories of some of their worst clients. They also detail heartbreaking stories of some of their poorer customers who were looking for someone to grow old with. It wasn't exactly the book I thought it would be but it was still a fairly decent read.
howjessicareads's review
4.0
This is a super fun, breezy light nonfiction story about the establishment of a London marriage bureau. It was perfect before-bed reading — interesting, but not so interesting as to keep me up too late. 🙂
melissafirman's review
Really wanted to like this but it reads more like a fairy tale than nonfiction. It's disconcerting.
diversifyyourreading's review against another edition
4.0
This reads like a collection of short stories, each one about a different match made at the marriage bureau. I loved how the history and evolution of the bureau was weaved into the matchmaking stories. Another non fiction book that doesn’t feel like nonfiction at all!
abookishaffair's review against another edition
3.0
"The Marriage Bureau" is the story of two women who start at matchmaking firm in London during World War II. They pledge to make love matches between many people from many different walks of life. They set up their business on Bond Street. This book is billed as being a true story but reads more like a frothy, fun story of two women with a lot of anecdotes about some of the out of the ordinary clients that they serve.
This book definitely reads more like fiction and while the book says that the author drew on sources from the time and from interviews, much of the story is told through conversations between different characters in the book, which seems to blur the fiction/ non-fiction line a little bit. I appreciated that the author tried to pull the facts into more of a story rather than a history. I was hoping for more facts (How was the business set up? What was it like to have a business involved with very happy things during wartime?).
Also, since many of the stories about clients are anecdotal and contained to individual couples, there is not much of a story arc there. Individually, the stories about the clients are very entertaining. I did wish that there was a little bit more to this book but it is a good taste of an interesting business. It made me want to read more about this subject!
This book definitely reads more like fiction and while the book says that the author drew on sources from the time and from interviews, much of the story is told through conversations between different characters in the book, which seems to blur the fiction/ non-fiction line a little bit. I appreciated that the author tried to pull the facts into more of a story rather than a history. I was hoping for more facts (How was the business set up? What was it like to have a business involved with very happy things during wartime?).
Also, since many of the stories about clients are anecdotal and contained to individual couples, there is not much of a story arc there. Individually, the stories about the clients are very entertaining. I did wish that there was a little bit more to this book but it is a good taste of an interesting business. It made me want to read more about this subject!
deannah's review
4.0
This was a perfect antidote to my last book. I loved reading about 1) how this business came into being, 2) the initial reactions to said business and 3) their numerous successes in finding couples well-suited to each other. The writing felt slightly formulaic after awhile, but I really enjoyed the stories. There were quite the number of characters.
jennjuniper's review
4.0
Charming and easy to read, for the most part this is a funny and warm look at the matchmaking process in the 1940s. There’s some truly heartbreaking stories in here, though, often because of the Blitz or the War, and the windows into the struggles people had because of societal expectations of the 30s and 40s can be both fascinating and sad.
(I’ll pop in a warning for some 1930s/1940s attitudes to certain things, although it wasn’t as offensive as some things I’ve read from that time period.)
(I’ll pop in a warning for some 1930s/1940s attitudes to certain things, although it wasn’t as offensive as some things I’ve read from that time period.)
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