I first heard of The Postmistress by Sarah Blake when it showed up as a "You Might Also Like..." on the Amazon page for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I absolutely loved. Turns out that lots of others must have heard about it before I did, because the waiting list at the library was over 150 people long. I finally got it and, despite being suspicious by the dried rose on the cover (that's usually a red flag for me) I gave it a try.
This book had the potential to be either really cheesy or really good. It definitely leans more toward the good side of things, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was great. Set just before the U.S. enters WWII, it intertwines the stories of three characters- the postmistress of the town of Franklin, MA, at the tip of Cape Cod, a young wife in that town who is waiting for her doctor husband to return from England, and a young, female radio war correspondent in Europe who works with real historical figures like Edward R. Murrow and Ernie Pyle. The general story was good and the characters were well done, but something ultimately felt unsatisfying about this book and I can't put my finger on exactly what it was. The writing was mostly good, but there were a lot of point of view shifts that seemed like they could have been handled better. The ending didn't feel quite right to me either. It seemed too rushed and contrived in the way it tied things up, yet at the same time left some other loose threads hanging.
Bottom line- not a bad book and probably worth reading, but not something I completely loved.
This book had the potential to be either really cheesy or really good. It definitely leans more toward the good side of things, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was great. Set just before the U.S. enters WWII, it intertwines the stories of three characters- the postmistress of the town of Franklin, MA, at the tip of Cape Cod, a young wife in that town who is waiting for her doctor husband to return from England, and a young, female radio war correspondent in Europe who works with real historical figures like Edward R. Murrow and Ernie Pyle. The general story was good and the characters were well done, but something ultimately felt unsatisfying about this book and I can't put my finger on exactly what it was. The writing was mostly good, but there were a lot of point of view shifts that seemed like they could have been handled better. The ending didn't feel quite right to me either. It seemed too rushed and contrived in the way it tied things up, yet at the same time left some other loose threads hanging.Bottom line- not a bad book and probably worth reading, but not something I completely loved.
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