Yours Cheerfully

I loved Dear Mrs Bird and this follow up to Emmy’s story did not disappoint. This book was much more focused on the life of the staff at Women’s Friend magazine and women’s war effort. It’s written in the same 1940’s style and I could hear Emmy’s voice in my head - it was like watching an old black and white film - absolutely fabulous! I hope that A J Pearce writes more books about Emmy, Charles, Bunty, Guy, Hettie and the rest of these wonderful characters - I want to know how their war continues. As an aside, I also felt that I discovered a lot about what the war was like for those on the home front and women in particular, trying to juggle childcare, running a home and doing their bit for the war. If you loved Dear Mrs Bird, you won’t want to miss this one!

This is a sequel to Dear Mrs Bird, which I have not yet read (but now will!!), but a friend got me to get an advance copy and here I am writing about a novel I would probably not have picked up on a visit to my bookshop. I have not regretted reading it, on the contrary!!

The protagonist, Emmeline (Em), is a young woman finding her feet as journalist in 1941 London. The storyline follows her exploring the world of women's war work and a number of issues relating to that for Women's Friend, her magazine, whilst, at a personal level, we follow her love life and friendships. On the one hand, the story didn't seem all that original but the telling of it and the number of gentle twists made it thoroughly enjoyable. It made me think of Call the Midwife. Characters are made quite vivid through their language (which feels right for the setting) and attitudes.

I was particularly taken by the treatment of the very real issues faced by women during wartime and that even now are relevant. The touch was light, humorous and sensitive, without falling on sentimentality, but serious and with a sense of purpose - very much like the main character, Em. Perfect positive entertainment. I would read the next installment!

I was thrilled to be able to dive back into Emmy’s world, and Yours Cheerfully didn’t disappoint. Meeting Emmy and Bunty again was a joyous experience and I loved their continuing adventures, as well as their tireless efforts to make the world a better place. Please tell me there will be more novels in the series - I’m already missing them terribly. Hooray for Emmy and Bunty - they are jolly good sorts!

i loved this book ,yours cheerfully ,set during the war .very heart wrenching at times but wonderful also .

I absolutely adored Dear Mrs Bird and three years ago wrote at the end of my review 'Fingers crossed there is a sequel (with a lot of Mr Collins in it!) because I would love to know just what Emmy Does Next.' Yours Cheerfully is the answer and I am happy to tell you that it is just as filled with humour, heart and poignancy as its prequel.

Emmy is now firmly ensconsed at Women's Friend magazine, continuing to juggle work alongside her volunteer duties whilst living with her best friend, Bunty and falling in love with the delightful Charles, half brother of her boss. Young, irrepressible and in love, the only real darkness is the safety of those she cares about and the health and happiness of Bunty, injured in the bomb which killed her fiance. The magazine, long consigned to the out of date and fusty scrapheap seems to be on the up and Emmy is delighted when they are asked to help promote war work to their readership - not only is her idea of a series following new recruits at work accepted but she gets the opportunity to write and research the articles. herself. But as she gets to know and care about the subjects of her articles she realises how hard their lives are and finds herself torn between doing her duty and helping her friends.

I had no idea before I read this book that war widows were given an insultingly low pension forcing them into work, no matter their children's ages, but for those without family nearby to help, juggling work in factories open seven days a week and twenty four hours a day with childcare was an impossible connundrum. AJ Pearce perfectly captured the frustration of women wanting to do their bit and needing to earn a living faced with bureaucracy and indifference.

Once again the research is both impeccable and lightly worn as Emmy's voice rings true in every line. Every word, every reference, every piece of slang, every culteral reference, every thought Emmy has feels so authentic you would swear you were there in 1941. Sweet, funny and at times painfully sad, Yours Cheerfully is a wonderful book in its own right as well as a worthy sequel. This greedy reader can only demand More Please (and lots of Mr Collins please and thank you).

Firstly I must warn readers that this review may contain spoilers if you haven't read "Dear Mrs Bird" (though if you haven't, why not? It is wonderful). Now I can get onto the frankly gushing and effusive praise for this new novel by AJ Pearce. I absolutely adored this book. Having read Ms Pearce's first novel a few years ago, I was already enchanted by the world and the characters she created and therefore as soon as I heard that she was writing a sequel, I simply could not wait to read it. I must say it did not disappoint.

In this sequel we return to the Second World War setting not long after we left Emmy, Bunty, Mr Collins and all of the other charming characters we grew to love. Mrs Bird has left the magazine in what I presume was a fit of pique and Mr Collins has now become the editor. Emmy is now besotted with Mr Collins' younger half-brother Charles, who does seem to be a very good sort as I'm sure Emmy would say. We also see Bunty continuing to struggle bravely with the loss of her fiance Bill.

Our heroine Emmy though, is now trusted to take a more active role in the problem page (renamed "Yours Cheerfully"). In spite of this, she remains the Emmy we know and love, for she still cannot resist doing her best to help others even when it puts herself and her job at risk. In this novel her new cause is to fight for a government funded nursery for the new friends she makes who work at a munitions factory. All I will say is that it does not go absolutely swimmingly.

The novel itself though remains as beautiful and heartwarming as Ms Pearce's first. She has created a world of kind-hearted, genuinely lovely people and it was an absolute pleasure to return to this world in the sequel. It feels a little like coming home from a hard day and getting under your favourite blanket with a large mug of tea. Honestly it is just that comforting and a tonic for these tough times. Thank you Ms Pearce you have absolutely cheered me up. Yours cheerfully x

I was absolutely delighted to receive this long awaited sequel to the wonderful Dear Mrs Bird and was not in the least disappointed. It immediately felt like revisiting old friends and was a delight from start to finish. Once again the historically accurate style of writing was spot on. Thoroughly looking forward to the next instalment in Emmie's adventure.

I adored Mrs Bird and it felt like I was meeting up with a good friend for this sequel. This book is incredibly comforting despite it dealing with the hard topics of war - sexism and loss, for example. Pearce’s writing is smart and engaging but has such a softness, which I think is so welcome during strange times.

I am always so impressed with her research about World War II. It sets such a vivid scene. But this book also gave a nod to the Great War that came before and how there must still have been such residual pain and drama to contend with when another massive, life-altering conflict came about again.

Obviously this is lovely, escapist fiction but it’s great to remember that there are always women - like Emmy and Bunty - with huge moxie and kindness, in real life too.

When I saw that there was a follow up to Dear Mrs. Bird; a book with characters that are all very dear to me, I nearly jumped through the roof. I could not contain my joy and excitement. But as is the case with many sequels, there is always a little bit of worry involved. Had the author up and changed the characters, will you love this one as much as the first, will it be a disappointment?
I am happy to report that there was not even an ounce of disappointment, this may even be my favourite of the two. Favourite characters have returned to the page in full pluck and colour, expanding and becoming more real as this story helped colour them in even more. I absolutely loved the plot of this addition to the Emmiline Lake series. Woman’s friend has continued to grow, Emmy has grown as a character and her story has taken a few interesting turns. I loved how fun and lighthearted certain scenes were, with the craziness of war time life it depicted, while still showing the sad and heartfelt moments that come with war. The loss of life and the devastation it brings was not overlooked or shunted to the side in favour of humor, nor was it overpowering. It was placed perfectly and handled with care. I also enjoyed that the novel followed the women at home and how the war, the war effort, death of loved ones and still having to keep a brave face affected them. It is not often that the women left at home are the main focus of historical war novels, and I cannot express how wonderful this focus point truly was. It brings another perspective as well as an important facet of the war to life in a vividly, realistic manner.
Emmy and her loved ones had me cheering for them in Dear Mrs Bird, and in Yours Cheerfully they had me cheering along again, this time it just felt like I was returning home and cheering along a dear friend.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough and am so utterly pleased to have been able to read it before it’s actual release date. Do yourself a favour and pick it up as soon as it hits the shelves. It will truly only enrich your days spent reading it.

I loved "Dear Mrs. Bird", so I was thrilled to find there's a sequel! I was delighted to be transported back to this story and the characters I enjoyed. It's heartwarming, touching, and inspiring.

I loved Dear Mrs Bird and Yours Cheerfully didn’t disappoint! Like the perfect Sunday night drama it is full of lovely characters (and a few mild villains!), friends and family and love but spunk! The characters feel like friends and the WWII setting is great. In fact, I loved the focus on women working and pointing out that the government expected them to go to the factories but didn’t provide support like nurseries. Very interesting and adds an extra level to this delightful novel. Love it! Read it! Enjoy getting a big hug from it!

The much anticipated sequel to the delightful Dear Mrs Bird is here, and I couldn’t be happier. To receive an early copy to read and review was the perfect Easter treat. Thank you so much to @NetGalley, Picador and the author AJ Pearce. It feels like being reunited with old friends to meet Emmy and her friend Bunty again.
Opening the first chapter I realised I felt invested in how the young women were managing during WW2 and I was delighted to join Emmy on her latest adventure. While there is fun to be found, this is actually a very serious look at the way women munitions workers were treated and, like Emmy, I was astonished at what is exposed. The book makes a gentle yet powerful statement that will shock and surprise a lot of people.
Just like with Dear Mrs Bird, the research into the era is excellent and you really feel like you are immersed into wartime Britain. This is an author who does her homework and it really shows
I have absolutely no hesitation in giving #YoursCheerfully a big fat FIVE stars. I loved it. (And yes, the adorable Mr Collins is back!)

A J Pearce's first novel, Dear Mrs Bird, was funny, moving and very uplifting. I've been waiting on tenterhooks for the sequel and couldn't great to read Yours Cheerfully. It's just as good as Dear Mrs Bird and continues the story of our heroine Emmeline working as a women's magazine advice columnist in 1941. It's heartwarming to read about her friendship with her best friend Bunty and another character who is introduced a female war worker, but Pearce doesn't shy away from the realities and horrors of war. I hope the third book in the series will come soon!

I loved Dear Mrs Bird, so I was excited to start reading the sequel. Yours Cheerfully was every bit as heartwarming and sweet and immersive as the first book, and I didn't want it to end.

I absolutely adored this sequel to Mrs Bird. Going back to these seemingly simpler times with Emmy and her pals was totally delightful! I really hope we're going to be treated to a further instalment very soon.

Beautiful to be reunited with the characters I loved so much in Dear Mrs Bird. I re-read Dear Mrs Bird before picking this up and was a great memory to go through it all again.

This was everything I’d hoped the sequel would be, full of love and friendship. The stories of the girls working hard for their country and family topped with the letters from the nation that go answered now, just bring it all together and keep you reading on and rooting for our main character.

So, can we have a follow up because I just want to keep on reading about these characters!

Emmeline Lake is back!

Plucky as ever and full of ambition, this time she's set to show the Ministry what for in her latest adventure! An absolutely smashing sequel to 'Dear Mrs Bird' - one of those books I'm torn between reading feverishly to know what happens next, while also stalling because I don't want it to end!

There is so much I love about these books - Emmy's bold and plucky nature, the wonderful cast of characters, the spirit of Wartime Britain, the freshness of the writing and the sparkling humour (a true chuckle out loud kind of read). All this coupled with Pearce's ability to poignantly convey the ghastly reality of Wartime living, narrowing down on individual experiences and using all her characters to embellish this picture (so a few tears as well). The feel-good side of her stories are magnified by the darker backdrop and make for a really inspiring read.

'Dear Mrs Bird' and 'Yours Cheerfully' are two books I cannot recommend enough - and thier uplifting spirit in the face of adversity is particularly relevant. I very much hope there will be another...!!

Sometimes you pick up a book at just the right time. I had heard that this is a lovely read, and it was firmly in my digital TBR. I started it over the beautifully sunny weekend, and ended up actually finishing it then too, it was so engaging.

This is the second in a series, which I hadn’t realised. Dear Mrs Bird is the first one, but I didn’t feel that I missed anything in the second. AJ Pearce does a great job at filling in and reminding a clueless reader without labouring the point. She also does a great job at encouraging me to add Dear Mrs Bird to my wishlist!

Emmy Lake is a journalist at Women’s Friend, in the middle of the Second World War. A bit like Small Pleasures in that both main characters are journalists in a predominantly man’s world, dealing with the aftermath of the war. They could be sisters, or colleagues, just twenty years apart.

It’s written in a tone which I’d describe as ‘jolly hockey sticks’, very Famous Five and it describes an England long gone, where the men wear braces and hats and the ladies stay at home to raise the babies. In fact, underneath that stiff British upper lip, we get to glimpse the hardship faced by Emmy and those around her, in the middle of a war which felt never ending, robbing the UK of a generation of men and the ‘luxury’ of buying what they need in terms of food and clothing. Something about this combination of valiant fighting and clear struggle, really fitted with me and I just loved it.

Emmy’s best friend, Bunty, is grieving the loss of her fiancé and dealing with trying to heal from surviving the bomb that killed him and razed their house to the ground. The friendship she and Emmy have is just lovely – pure and supportive and honest. Emmy’s parents too, are an idyllic representation of a loving couple, delighted that their daughter is pursuing her dream.

In the midst of getting to grips with a new role at the magazine, Emmy finds herself attending some very important meetings at the Ministry, much to the consternation of some ‘proper’ journalists. Women’s Friend is positioned in the book as very much a lifeline for women (although aimed at the older generation, truth be told), including recipes to use allotment vegetables, avoiding rationed items, saving yarn and patterns for knitting underwear.

I think the best books have characters you want to be friends with. Maybe not all of them – I wouldn’t love being friends with the narrator in Fight Club, although I’ll bet he’s fun to go on a night out with. I would definitely meet up with Emmy and Bunty, they’d be really fun with some gin and records, and they know how to make a little go a long way.

I’d recommend this if you like books set in this type of era, very much a kind of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, it reminded me of Dodie Smith’s I Capture The Castle.

Thanks as always to Netgalley and for the advance digital review copy – this is out to buy on June 24th 2021 in the UK.

What a wonderful break this book was from all of the thrillers that I’ve been reading. This is a follow up to Dear Mrs. Bird, but honestly, I liked this one a lot more.
London, November 1941. It’s round two at Women’s Friend magazine and Mrs Henrietta Bird has moved on and so Emmeline Lake is assisting with the agony column renamed Yours Cheerfully.
Emmy is back (as well as Charles and Bunty) she is now working on the advice column named Yours Cheerfully. She is a strong character with a warmth to her.

A light, enjoyable book that focuses on the plight of the female factory workers. Emmy helps in the effort to recruit workers and do their part in the war effort. It was slow in parts, but overall easy reading.

The characters in this one were full of life and determination, in spite of the war raging on. They were smart, resourceful and sometimes unconventional and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
Despite the very serious issues tackled in this book, reading this feels like getting a warm hug from a loved one you haven't seen in a long time- you're sniffly and crying, but by the end of it, you're smiling through your tears and you're happy.
I highly recommend this, and I really wish AJ Pearce would continue this as a series, I don't want to think that's the last I've heard of these delightful characters!
Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for an eARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Having devoured Dear Mrs Bird in a sitting, I was over the moon to be given the opportunity to review Yours Cheerfully - and even more delighted that the sequel is such a worthy successor.

This time around, Emmeline Lake and Woman’s Friend face a new challenge - how to recruit women workers to help with the war effort. But the issue isn’t as simple as Emmy first believes.

It’s often nerve-wracking to read the sequel to a book you loved, but with Yours Cheerfully, AJ Pearce delivers in every respect. The writing has that same quality that has you laughing out loud one moment and then all but moved to tears the next. It was wonderful to be back in Emmy’s world and to see the development in her relationships at work and at home. As before, Pearce brings the period to life, with research that is clearly thorough but never heavygoing, and a narrative that is warm and uplifting, but not twee or sugar-coated.

Comparisons to Call the Midwife are apt, because, like the series, the book manages to be an absolute tonic, whilst covering the hard-hitting issues of the day. In this case, the issues are still prevalent today - namely the struggle for many women in balancing work and childcare (where there are no workplace provisions for the latter) and the inbuilt discrimination against women at work to which many are blind.

In short, another masterclass in uplit from AJ Pearce. I loved this book and will definitely be shouting about it to anyone who’ll listen!