The Postmistress

Finished The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. Set just before America enters World War II, it is the story of three women, a newlywed who has finally found a home after losing her parents as a small child, a reporter based in London during the worst of The Blitz, and a single, orderly postmistress on Cape Cod. Their stories intertwine in surprising ways. This book is both compelling and deeply upsetting. Blake's descriptions of The Blitz are shockingly real. Her characters are so genuinely human, especially Frankie Bard, radio reporter working with Edward R. Murrow in London. She's brassy and game for anything in terms of a real assignment. When she gets it in the form of recording the stories of Jewish refugees traversing Europe trying to find a way out, she spends several weeks riding in trains with them, recording their voices and is left to guess at their fates.