AJ Pearce

This story was inspired by letters and newspapers from London during WWII.
Emmeline Lake works hard to become a respected reporter working for Woman's Friend publication. It takes awhile for Emmy to warm up to Henrietta Bird who is the publisher of Woman's Friend. She is disappointed when she is assigned the advice column since she wanted more serious articles. It wasn't easy but Emmy pushed the boundaries of the "proper" responses and articles that had been enforced by Mrs. Bird for years. With publication sales dropping and women starting to enter the work force to help the war effort, the news should reflect the needs of the women during the war. Emmy had to convince Mrs. Bird that some changes to the column is vital to helping women endure the war while their husbands are away.

There is a wonderful cast of well-developed characters who each touch your heart. Emmy's best friend Bunty is engaged to marry William who joined the Auxiliary Fire Department before being sent to war with her brother Jack. Emmy also works part time as a telephone operator at the Auxiliary Fire department as well. This is a story of grief, loss, reconciliation, friendship, resilience and uplifting.… (altro)

This continues the story of Emmy Lake who has worked hard for to prove herself a worthy reporter at Woman's Friend publication. When Henrietta Bird stepped down as editor of the Woman's Friend, Mr. Guy Collins became the new editor. Over time, Mr. Collins allowed Emmy the responsibilities and assignments she desired after accompanying him to the Ministry of Information HQ at Senate. A confidential meeting comprised of many of the prominent journalists trusted with dispersing information to assist the war effort. Emmy becomes empowered with this new opportunity to prove herself as a true journalist. The relationships and marriages form during the war along with tragedy and hardship. These events bring people together to support each other and form their own "family".

In this installment, it is 1943 in London and it's Emmy Lake's 25th birthday. Newly married to Captain Charles Mayhew, she works 2 jobs while he is serving in the war along with most other men. The story continues with its same witty, lively characters which really drive the stories which are an encouraging look at life during WWII. Of course, just as the group at Woman's Friend are relieved to have recovered from some setbacks they have currently increased revenue with their increased sales with the new format which readers have come to depend.

This is all upended when Mrs Porter inherits Woman's Friend from her uncle Lord Overton who owned the magazine for 48 years. It was assumed that it would be passed down to his son along with The Evening Chronicle and rest of the Launceston Press empire. Since the magazine was currently doing well no one expected many changes with the new ownership. Everyone is appalled when the new owner, Mrs. Porter, wants nothing more than to make dramatic changes creating havoc amongst the employees and the readers. She is an uppity, know-it-all who looks down on everyone and eventually decides to sell the magazine without concern about the livelihood of the staff. For the dedicated workers, Woman's Friend has become an integral piece for people to contribute to the war effort. They provided useful information for the everyday person about getting through the difficulties faced by the war. They were especially proud of their ability to help mostly women in need who had no where else to turn for assistance.

With help from Monica Edwards, an old friend of Guy Collins and successful publisher of Woman Today publication, they try to problem solve a way to save the magazine from failure. They know how to run a successful magazine but they lack the funding to purchase the publication themselves. Not to fear, this group of dedicated, loyal folks are determined to make lemonade out of lemons. Again, this is a story which has many likeable characters with budding relationships and connections. I hope that this is not the last we hear about them.

https://bookwormreviewblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/mrs-porter-calling-by-aj-pearce....… (altro)

See full review and more here!

Recommended: Sure
For those who can handle brutal heartbreak, for those who understand old-timey British phrases and slang (or have a convenient British friend to translate)

Thoughts:
If the letter-writing aspect of this is what's drawing you in, be aware that a lot of the story is focused on how they manage to live their lives under constant threat of war and danger and death. There's love, and friendship, and insecurity, but there's also near-deaths, and bombings, and hatred. You just have to be ready to take both, as they had to at the time.

The writing-letters side of the story took a significant backseat to the life-in-wartime side of the story for me. They tie together of course, but when I think back on this, I remember more about the wartime side. Maybe that's just because it was more emotionally weighted that way, but my point is that the aspect of her writing letters at a newspaper were not the parts I looked forward to the most or felt the most strongly about. It was more of filler for me, despite it's obvious central role in the story.

I will not be watching any movie adaptation of this, thank you very much!… (altro)