The Postmistress in ReadingGroupGuides.com

Feb 05, 2010 Stacie rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club

Even though this started a little slow for me, I was eventually wrapped up in to the storyline and couldn't put it down. In the beginning, I was trying to figure out how the 3 women characters (Iris the Postmistress, Emma the Dr's wife and Frankie the War Reporter)were connected and where the novel was going. I stuck with it and became intrigued with the story. There were pages that made me shudder at the horror of what was happening, pages that made me drop a tear, and pages that made me sob li ...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Susan Bright rated it liked it · review of another edition

The Postmistress is about two women, Iris a Postmistress, or Postmaster as she preferred to be called in Franklin, Massachusetts and Frankie and a war correspondent, working in London in the early years of World War II. Both of these women are responsible for delivering news in very different ways. The synopsis on the back of the book sounded fascinating. What if the Postmistress in a small town, whose job it is to sort and deliver every letter decides not to deliver a particular letter and to p The Postmistress is about two women, Iris a Postmistress, or Postmaster as she preferred to be called in Franklin, Massachusetts and Frankie and a war correspondent, working in London in the early years of World War II. Both of these women are responsible for delivering news in very different ways. The synopsis on the back of the book sounded fascinating. What if the Postmistress in a small town, whose job it is to sort and deliver every letter decides not to deliver a particular letter and to pocket it instead. I kept waiting for this to happen and eventually it did, however it did not have the impact you would expect it to have.

The Postmistress, alternates back and forth between Franklin, Massachusetts and war-torn Europe. Iris takes her job as Postmaster seriously, arriving at the post office each morning and making sure that everything is done just right, including raising the flag out front. Will Fitch, the town doctor had just married and brought his new wife Emma to town, and Harry Vale, convinced that the German’s will be arriving any day watches patiently for U-boats. The residents of Franklin listen to Frankie’s reports and to them she is somewhat of a celebrity.

Back in London, Frankie is doing her best to let people know what is really happening, frustrated by the fact that no one seems to be listening or doing anything about it.

“Listen”, Frankie snapped. “Whatever is coming does not just come, as you say. It’s helped by people willfully looking away. People who develop the habit of swallowing lies rather than the truth. The minute you start thinking something else, then you’ve stopped paying attention- and paying attention is all we’ve got.”

Yes, The Postmistress is another World War II story, but Sarah Blake has managed to tell it from yet another perspective. This story is told through the voice of Frankie as she delivers her radio program as well as through the voices of the Jews on the trains trying to escape to safety, whom she interviews and records. It is told by the way the ordinary people of Franklin, Massachusetts lives are changed forever.
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Jan 01, 2010 Chris rated it really liked it

Shelves: wwii, discussion-books, won

I would give this book 4 1/2 stars. It took me a little bit to get into it, but once I did, I could not put it down. I always enjoy a new novel about WWII from a different perspective. This time it was from the perspective of a female American reporter in London and a small town on the East Coast in America. It is interesting to see how war affects/doesn't affect people when it's not right on their front steps. It was also interesting to learn more about the London bombings. How horrible. ...more

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Apr 28, 2010 Bookclubcheerleader rated it really liked it

A dark, yet statisfying read. Narrated by three very different women, we feel how WWII affects the lives and loves of each of them.

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Feb 06, 2011 Elise rated it liked it

Started slowly then picked up. Tale of 3 women prior to the US entry into WWII, each with different perspectives and roles. I was left wondering what women of that era were truly like, the strength that many had to muster, and the best way to comfort those in need and deliver difficult news.

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Mar 18, 2010 Meg rated it liked it

This book had promise, the last 100 pages kind of ruined it for me. The characters didn't gain, strength they lost them. What some of them did, made no sense to me. It is a very low 3 star rating. ...more

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