Saturday, April 10, 2010

The Postmistress: Sarah Blake: I'm of two minds about this book -- possibly because it seemed like it was telling two separate stories that didn't have a whole lot to do with each other, and when the stories did meet, the convergence seemed forced. First, there's the titular postmistress whose name (Iris James -- I thought it was Alice) I had to look up in order to write this. Then there's Frankie Bard, a reporter covering the Blitz in London. Frankie comes alive on the page -- her rage, her sorrow, her desperation to let America know what's happening to the Jews in Europe -- all her emotions seem real to me. The sections of the book that dealt with Frankie just flew by for me. Whenever I had to read about Iris and Emma on the home front, I got bogged down -- neither of the characters were that interesting to me. It took me several days to read this book because of these two people. Iris was quirky, which I usually like, but there wasn't enough of a story about her to keep it interesting. And Emma, around whom the story of the postmistress and Frankie revolves, is so less than interesting that she makes me want to fall asleep -- she's a passive person, just waiting for the world to act upon her. And I don't find that to be compelling reading. I would have loved The Postmistress if it had been called The Reporter and was Frankie's story alone.

2 comments:

BabelBabe said...

good to know, because that book is currently all over my radar. I will get it from the library, if at all.

Kathy said...

Yeah -- I kind of wish I'd gotten it from the library instead of paid hardcover prices for it.