The Postmistress by Sarah BlakeBack-of-the-book blurb: It is 1940. France has fallen. Bombs are dropping on London. And President Roosevelt is promising he won’t send our boys to fight in “foreign wars.” But American radio gal Frankie Bard, the first woman to report from the Blitz in London, wants nothing more than to bring the war home. Frankie’s radio dispatches crackle across the Atlantic ocean, imploring listeners to pay attention–as the Nazis bomb London nightly, and Jewish refugees stream across Europe. Frankie is convinced that if she can just get the right story, it will wake Americans to action and they will join the fight.
Meanwhile, in Franklin, Massachusetts, a small town on Cape Cod, Iris James hears Frankie’s broadcasts and knows that it is only a matter of time before the war arrives on Franklin’s shores. In charge of the town’s mail, Iris believes that her job is to deliver and keep people’s secrets, passing along the news that letters carry. And one secret she keeps are her feelings for Harry Vale, the town mechanic, who inspects the ocean daily, searching in vain for German U-boats he is certain will come. Two single people in midlife, Iris and Harry find themselves drawn toward each other.
Listening to Frankie as well are Will and Emma Fitch, the town’s doctor and his new wife, both trying to escape a fragile childhood and forge a brighter future. When Will follows Frankie’s siren call into the war, Emma’s worst fears are realized. Promising to return in six months, Will goes to London to offer his help, and the lives of the three women entwine.
Alternating between an America still cocooned in its inability to grasp the danger at hand and a Europe being torn apart by war, The Postmistress gives us two women who find themselves unable to deliver the news, and a third woman desperately waiting for news yet afraid to hear it.
She is Too Fond of Books’ review: The Postmistress opens at a dinner party set in the present day. Frances “Frankie” Bard poses this question to the guests: “What would you think of a postmistress who chose not to deliver the mail?” Then she tells the reader:
Long ago, I believed that, given a choice, people would turn to good as they would to the light. I believed that reporting – honest, unflinching pictures of the truth – could be a beacon to lead us to demand that wrongs be righted, injustices punished, and the weak and the innocent cared for … But I have covered far too many wars … to believe in … a single beam of truth to shine into the dark. Every story – love or war – is a story about looking left when we should have been looking right.
Here is the war story I never filed. I began it at the end of the forties … What I knew at the time is pieced together here with the parts I couldn’t have known, but imagine to be true.
Blake switches to an omniscient narrator at this point, and the bulk of the novel is told in the third person; it’s easy to forget that Frankie Bard is handing the story to us, because we get a fairly even distribution of the three viewpoints until about midway through. However, her words in this opening provide foreshadowing and explain her motivation as the novel progresses.
Franklin, Massachusetts is the name Blake has given to her fictionalized Provincetown (which caused me some confusion at first, as Franklin is the name of a real town about 35 miles southwest of Boston, not on the Cape). In Blake’s Franklin, the outermost town on Cape Cod, the throngs of summertime beach-goers running on casual vacation time contrast with the orderliness of Iris James’ routines at the post office and Harry Vale’s determined scanning of the Atlantic, ever on the lookout for German invaders.
I admired the three female lead characters for their very different personalities – Iris James, the postmaster of Franklin is all about order, routine, propriety. What is it then, that causes her to shirk this responsibility, to divert mail from its intended recipient?
Emma Fitch is innocent, in every sense of the word. She has led a sheltered life and wants only to settle down in what she imagines will be a fairytale lifestyle with her new husband, Will Fitch, the town doctor. Why does Emma keep to herself? Is she shy, or burdened by the mantle of her husband’s family? Will she allow townspeople to support her when she needs it, or will her armor of pride prove to be impenetrable?
Frankie Bard is my favorite – perhaps because of her adventurous spirit and her desire to do more than “Get in. Get the story. Get out” as she has been instructed. Is it a flaw that Frankie gets emotionally involved in her stories, that she becomes vested in the outcome of the people she reports on? Or does her strong female voice cause people in America to sit up and notice what’s going on past the sandy beaches of Franklin and across the Atlantic to Europe?
Bard wants to report what she sees; she feels that if Americans knew what was happening in Europe, they’d be called to action. Because of censors and her bosses admonitions to report facts, not emotions, she is told that rather than broadcast that
…”the streets are rivers of blood. Say that the little policeman you usually say hello to every morning is not there today.”
Frankie Bard is able to capture the voices of people in mass exodus from occupied Europe. The way she does this, both her personal techniques in talking to people and the new technology she uses, combine in a unique and haunting way.
Blake writes The Postmistress in four parts, corresponding to the seasons Fall 1940 through Summer 1941. The first two sections introduce us to the characters and allow us to observe their routines; the day-to-day of life in Franklin contrasts markedly with the Blitz in London as it is experienced by Frankie. It is at the halfway mark that I read a passage that knocked me in the stomach. Then another. And yet another. The last two sections were pageturners, and I had tears running down my cheeks at several parts.
Two very strong themes have been with me since I finished reading the novel. The first is the question posed by Will Fitch, “What happens to a story around its edges? … What happens after the part you gave us?” He wants to follow up on the people he hears about on the broadcasts. We hear a snippet of a human interest story – what happens to those people after the reporter leaves, after we turn off our radios?
I’ve also been thinking a lot about predestination versus free will. Blake alludes to this with the detailed description of the order of the postmistress’ day, her routines of raising and lowering the flag, sorting the mail, the precise clunk of the franking machine as a postmark is stamped. Iris James believes that:
There is an order running beneath us, an order and a reason, and every letter sent, every goddamned letter sent and received, proves it. Something begins, somethings finishes. Something is sent, something arrives. Every day. Every hour. As long as there are letters –
I feel The Postmistress will be very well-received by book groups; some topics for discussion include our responses to perception and reality, and the desire at times to live as if a false perception is the truth. There are parallels to current events, with questions about how news is disbursed, how images are managed, and whether we choose to get involved or deny the evidence. Readers might also discuss the pacing (the relative easy pace of the first half in contrast with the rapid developments of the second), and the value/necessity of certain scenes … no spoilers here, email me after you’ve read it, if you’d like. My Skype book group will be disucssing The Postmistress in April, I’ll post a recap of our comments then.
FTC disclosure: review copy provided by the publisher
This does sound like a great book club choice– thanks for the very illuminating review!
Great review…I’m really looking forward to this one!
I think I am going to mention this one to my bookclub. I am especially interested in the idea between predestination and freewill.
I skimmed your review, since I’ll be reading this soon. I’m so glad to see that this will be a great book to discuss.
I just skimmed as well because I hope to start this book soon. It has such a beautiful cover!
I’ve been reading some really good reviews of this book and I’m really looking forward to picking it up from the library at some point. I love books that make me think and books relating to WWII!
Sounds like another good book for me to keep an eye out for. Thanks for the review.
So excited to read this one!
I so want to read this book. It sounds like one I would enjoy. Hope your book club likes it.
I cannot WAIT to read this book. Great review!
Awesome review! Another blogging buddy of mine recommended this to me knowing that I really love historical fiction. I am glad that you enjoyed the book and think that it would be the perfect read for my book club. After I read it I will e-mail you so we can compare thoughts!
Just bought this book on my Kindle! I can’t wait to read it!
This was already on my radar after reading an excerpt via the DearReader.com e-mail book club a month or two ago, but you’re getting credit (one more time!) for its official addition to my wishlist, Dawn
. Thanks for the review!
You certainly made me want to read this book.
Thanks for this review! I love the excerpts you posted and will definitely be checking this one out!
I’ve been really curious about this one – thanks for the review!
Great review. I put this on my list when I first started seeing reviews, but then have seen a few since then that made me question whether I’d like it. Your review has me interested again
I just skimmed over your review too as I have this coming from the library and don’t like to much before I read a story. Thanks for telling me about Blame. I have read The Island too because I have an interest in leprosy and it gave an accurate history so I loved it. It was her first book so I’m trying The Return, her second.
I’ll come back to read your review later — I so hate to be influenced before I’ve read the book!
I hadn’t heard of this one before reading your review. I’m always looking for good discussion books for my book groups though, so I’m adding it to my to-read list. Thanks for the review!
I read it and am still thinking about it. On two levels – two ‘postmistresses’ – and of course, I would like to know what happened afterwards.
I am listening to this right now. I have just *met* a younger Frankie. I have to admit, I was a bit confused about the different points of views and characters in the beginning. Since I am not reading it I can’t go back and figure things out. Thank you for this great review. You cleared the confusion with out revealing anything. Perfect.
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I’m back! Excellent review. You touch on the important points here. It was a moving novel and I’m going to have a difficult time writing my review.
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I am from Massachusetts and having Franklin at the tip of the Cape was annoying to me. Why not call it Provincetown or a made up name. Also the recording of the voices she told about at the end n the Notes. I kept thinkng this recording couldn’t have taken place in 1941.
the characters were interesting and the themes you mention give food for thought.
I didn’t like it. I wouldn’t have finished it except that my book discussion group is reviewing it. The story seems to drag on and on, and there are too many unanswered questions.
I disagree with this reveiwer. I did finish the book and enjoyed it but felt the author did not follow through with the plot line – Iris does not shirk her duty as the postmistress – she holds the letter until the telegram is received and delivers both at the same time – I felt the author did not follow through with the plot development and did not feel that Iris shirked her duty at all.
I found the book somewhat frustrating because of the writing style. How many times do we need to have the leaning-in-for-the-cigarette-lighting described? It’s the first book I read on the Kindle, so I have a question. Two of the chapters start out exactly the same with Iris “bringing the canceling stamp down on three letters in a row with a satisfying thump.” How could an editor miss this? Or is this a Kindle issue. I missed that Iris gave Emma the telegram and the letter at the same time, or was that just implied? Also, if Frankie is going to start the book in present day, shouldn’t she come back to that?
I am from Massachusetts and I found it really lazy of the author not to check to make sure there wasn’t a real Franklin Ma, well inland from the ocean. This lack of professionalism irked me throughout. I also thought the death of one of the main characters at the end was unnecessary and just a tad melodramatic. I too found it unlikely that a portable recording device was available in 1941 for the character to record the voices of the refugees. Perhaps the author felt she could get away with these discrepancies, but educated readers would be annoyed, as I was.
I, too, wanted to like the book… but am ambivalent about it: too descriptive and wordy in parts. Should have had a different title, since it wasn’t ONLY about the postmistress.
I had recently taken a course on Edward R. Murrow, and it was interesting to read some “behind the scenes” info about his broadcasting during the pre WWII era. Also, I’m a docent at a Holocaust museum and didn’t realize the book would contain much about the refugees trying to escape Europe. There wasn’t enough explanation about the fact that there was “no where for them to go to….”
I enjoyed the book and found the writing about the Blitz and the fleeing of Jewish refugees most powerful. I, too, would have wanted Frankie to underscore that “there was no where for them to go to..” Also in Sarah Blake’s ‘The Story Behind the Story’ at the end of the book, she mentions a photo from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that moved her. The photo is famous but is also infamous as it is the source of an international court case of slander regarding the Al-Dura “myth”. Respectable journalists and media watchers around the globe have shown that the photo was “staged” – a hoax. In fact, there was no young boy who died in the crossfire. Though I understand Sarah’s reaction to viewing such a image, I would appreciate an editor’s note in future printings so as not to perpetuate the media’s blame against Israel. After all, a main theme of this story is how the media reports and frames the “truth”.
My reading group leader said there was a “twist” at the end. I didn’t see any. Did I miss something???
I, like some of you, was also annoyed about the setting of Franklin, MA, a Cape town, in this book. It bothered me from the very beginning being from Massachusetts myself as well. It seemed to me that Blake didn’t want to do research to substantiate a geographical fact. I like a good fictional novel, but to me there needs to be some truth to the fiction to give a sense of validity to the story. That said, I struggled in the beginning to get past this and have thoroughly enjoyed the book since. It was a great story!
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I was mostly bothered by the title of the book. I don’t think Iris was the main character of this book, but rather the three women who’s personalities and actions couldn’t be different. Beautifully written–a bit too poetic/precious for the story told. I liked it the book, and especially liked the review. Thank you
I read the book in January 2010, and left a note here in February. Reading all your comments, I guess I missed a lot, and so will now begin to re-read the book. However, as to the Massachusetts setting – it made no difference to me. It was a setting and a vehicle for the action there. Not being from that area of the country, From the author’s descriptions I found the town very engaging and very representative of life during WWII. So I’ll report back after I’ve re-read the book.
OK, I’ve now read it 3 times. See my notes, above. Some background on me – I read about 2 books a month, mostly fiction. I read because I enjoy reading and I enjoy a good story. Sarah Blake provides a readable and enjoyable story – and we learn a lot as well. I am a war baby (born 1943) so I can identify with much of the material, as those of us living in the 1950s heard from our families all about how life was in the USA during the War. In addition, Blake brings an incredible story about the reality of life of war correspondents and the horrors of war not usually discussed in novels or movies. She does this is a most effective manner, I thought. I found myself at the end – each time I read it – wanting to know MORE about Frankie’s life before and after the war. Such a great character. The story in the town of Franklin was not as engaging for me the first read – but the more often I read it, I liked it more. The real-life Postmistress and all the other characters were interesting and I believe do reflect life in the USA during the early part of WWII. And, of course, how the two stories came together, with the ethics and reality aspects. I probably will read it again, in a year or so. I found it that interesting and enjoyable.
I just finished the book yesterday and I am not sure it should be called the Postmistress. It got a little repetitive as well. I found myself feeling stupid for not knowing they could record in 1941 – thankfully I was just a Google away from the correct info. This of course bothered me throughout the entire book. There weren’t very many happy moments, she could have at least let Emma deliver her baby (without anything tragic happening). Just my opinion:)
I just finished this book and was disappointed–not because of your review, which I just read also. I thought there was too little info about the main characters for them to really grab me. Hence I was not moved to tears, as I expected to be. The Jewish refugees, on the other hand, were all heartbreaking, especially the little boy who had to be sent off alone.
Hmmm interesting comments on the Postmistress. I have not finished the book, but am enjoying the story. I was born in 1934 so remember some of what is going on. I do a lot of reading. I am bothered by the swearing in the book. I find it very shocking. Not necessary to put over the point. The swearing is spoiling the book for me. I am trying not to internalize it and do intend to read the entire book.
Sorry to say I was somewhat disappointed in this book. As the book kept jumping from each character’s story to story without a break, I felt it was somewhat disjointed and confusing at first. I don’t think the author is old enough, no matter how much research she did, to give the true flavor of the war. Therefore her presentation was too “fluffy” for me. No wonder, I usually keep to writings of authors such as Edith Wharton and E.M Forster, etc. Their writings hold the reader with more substantive information about their characters. One last note, I rather doubt Kotex would have been available in wartime London.
From http://www.kotex.co.za/faqs/products/
“In hospitals and first aid stations during World War I, Kimberly-Clark’s cellulose wadding often replaced cotton which was in short supply. Through the ingenuity of army nurses, the wadding was adapted for menstrual purposes. In 1920 it was introduced as Kimberly-Clark’s first consumer product.”
As to the supply/demand (and personal stockpile) during WWII, I can’t say.
Yes, there were Kotex products during WWII – check out this link…
http://www.mum.org/kotad23.htm
I really hope this author continues with the character “Frankie” in another book. I think she was a most fascinating character!
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I only managed to read about sixty pages of this book. I then gave up. mainly because of the bizarre misuse of the english language and the use of words that did not even exist. That in conjunction with the wild inaccuracies about Britain in the war. I am sure that the noise from gun batteries did not shatter the windows of houses, we had enough trouble from Hitler without smashing up the place ourselves or that thousands of children were evacuated to the US considering that ships were being torpedoed in vast numbers by U boats (out of the frying pan into the fire is a saying that sums that up) The dialog seemed jerky and ill considered at times as if it was made up of random pieces of information just thrown together. I am sure that the general story was good when reading reviews but I do think that It should have been re written in intelligible English for the UK. The author even calls the postmistress the postmaster despite the title of the book. I am so relieved that I managed to find this in a charity shop for a small sum I would have been gutted if I had paid full price for it.
Even though I read this book (and re-read it twice) some time ago, I still think about the story and “messages.” I continue to think it is a very good book, with many lessons and insights. Plus everything to do with Frankie is very exciting and could be a book unto itself. I hope the author writes about her again. thanks for this blog!!!!!
I am beginning the fourth chapter of “The Postmistress” Although it is a good book, I am tiring of the use of “Christ” — “God” — “Hell” — “Jesus” as expletives. Without the over-use of these words, the content would be better and not as monotonous. Does the author know any other words besides Bible words to use as expletives? After the first couple chapters I wondered if I should go on with it. It became offensive.
Going on, trying to make a decision here — Chapters 5 & 6—yes it continues! Sure does take away from a story that could have been done in a more artistic manner without this misuse of the English language!
I have just finished reading ‘The Postmistress’ amd found it excellent. It has some overtones and similarities to ‘Atonement’ by Ian McEwan btu that is no bad thing. I didn’t have any issue with the language and actually found it very poetic and descriptive. I could just see the bus as it moved over the hill toward the town.
I was concerned when I got to Frankie’s time in Europe and travelling with Jewish refugees and I wondered if such travelling would have been allowed. I also thought ‘oh no, not another Jewish refugee story’ but the story devolved into somehting satisfactory in that sense.
I have one remaining issue: Close to the end of the book there is a paragraph about the British/Allied forces moving into Kermanshah in what is now northern Iraq, to protect the oilfields and oil supply line to Russia. This doesn’t really tie in with the rest of the novel and isn’t expanded upon,and I really wondered about this little piece of news reporting in the context of the story. But it provided a time line for me, as my father was amongst those forces.