Featuring . . . The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

This Friday and every Friday for the next couple of months, I will be featuring a book that was published under the Amy Einhorn Books imprint. I am starting with the 2009 books and will spotlight them in alphabetical order by year.

In The Postmistress, Sarah Blake takes us to the year before Pearl Harbor. A time when the American public still thought that their boys would never have to fight, despite daily reports of the bombings of London. Here's the publisher's summary:

On the eve of the United States's entrance into World War II in 1940, Iris James, the postmistress of Franklin, a small town on Cape Cod, does the unthinkable: She doesn't deliver a letter.

In London, American radio gal Frankie Bard is working with Edward R. Murrow, reporting on the Blitz. One night in a bomb shelter, she meets a doctor from Cape Cod with a letter in his pocket, a letter Frankie vows to deliver when she returns from Germany and France, where she is to record the stories of war refugees desperately trying to escape.

The residents of Franklin think the war can't touch them--but as Frankie's radio broadcasts air, some know that the war is indeed coming. And when Frankie arrives at their doorstep, the two stories collide in a way no one could have foreseen.

The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during war­time, when those we cherish leave. And how every story--of love or war--is about looking left when we should have been looking right.

I wanted to read this novel from the moment I first heard about it because it touches on many themes that interest me, especially how our perceptions of reality depend on the knowledge we have. I was not disappointed, noting in my review of The Postmistress that "The writing is beautiful, the characters are approachable, and the story will stick with you."

Nicole from Linus's Blanket was struck by the ethical dilemmas presented in the novel: "The Postmistress . . . is a beautiful tale that examines the weighty and confusing issue of truth--when it needs to be told, under what circumstances, and who deserves to hear it."

Julie from Booking Mama had mixed reactions but noted, "I was extremely impressed with Ms. Blake's writing. I thought she told a beautiful story, and there were so many times that a passage really stood out to me."

Almost every review I've read has recommended The Postmistress for book clubs; there is a lot to discuss.

This book was featured as part of the Amy Einhorn Books Reading Challenge (click to join the fun). For information about the imprint, please read Amy Einhorn's open letter posted here on January 25, 2010.

The Postmistress at an Indie

The Postmistress at Powell's
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Published by Putnam/Amy Einhorn, April 2010
ISBN-13: 9780399156199