Yours Cheerfully was a fun, enjoyable read. Emmy Lake is a wartime advice columnist who is thrilled to be invited to help out with a Ministry of Information drive to recruit more British women war workers. But when she learns of the struggle these women face - they were often expected to do the impossible when it came to working and taking care of their children - and the unwillingness of authorities to improve their situation Emmy questions where her loyalty lies.

Emmy is a delightful character, full of energy, enthusiasm and good intentions, even if they sometimes go astray. Actually, with a couple of key exceptions, virtually all the characters were delightful.

Serendipitously, I was listening to this at the same time I was reading about women war workers in a nonfiction book (straight below this post on my feed) which enhanced my experience with both. Fiction and nonfiction have different ways of tackling topics and there’s something to be gained from both.

The spirit of the women and the sacrifices they made, sometimes willingly and sometimes unwillingly, really struck me. It put the sacrifices required to deal with Covid, and the unwillingness of many to make them, into stark perspective.

I must make special mention of the madcap caper, comedy of errors final scene. It was total frothy fun.

Since this book was set during wartime tough issues did arise. But they didn’t happen directly to the key characters, and they happened off-page and/or are only referred to obliquely. The overall tone remains relatively light.

If you are in the mood for something warm-hearted and charming with a spirited heroine this would be a great pick.
 

I am one of the many readers who fell in love with Dear Mrs. Bird, so needless to say, I was very happy to see another novel featuring Emmy during the same period.

Like its predecessor, Yours Cheerfully feels like a “lighter” WWII novel (if you can think of a novel about wartime that way), because of how well
Pearce weaves humour and ordinary life stuff into her work. Those who enjoyed Bunty and Emmy’s friendship in book one will find much more to charm them here.

For me, it’s the tone / feeling of this series that pulls me in. There’s something cozy and comforting about Pearce’s style. Her novels tug at the heart strings, provoke some delighted guffaws, and are the kind of stories you want to read when you need a little hope in your reading life. A TV counterpart would be Call the Midwife. If you like that show, this is for you.

The pace was slower than book one, and it didn’t have the same level of tension, but you don’t read this kind of story expecting a page turner. You read this kind of story for comfort and gentle entertainment.