After getting in a spot of trouble in Dear Mrs. Bird, young journalist and aspiring advice columnist Emmeline Lake is thriving at Woman's Friend magazine. AJ Pearce chronicles more of Emmy's personal and professional adventures in her warmhearted second novel, Yours Cheerfully.
In the fall of 1941, Emmy and her colleagues at Woman's Friend are doing their bit to help win the war. This means providing recipes, dress patterns and sound advice for their readers, but Emmy thinks they need to do more. When the Ministry of Information asks journalists to help recruit women for war work, Emmy plunges into a series on women working in factories. Her research opens up a few cans of worms, including the lack of childcare for female employees, and sparks some surprising new friendships. As Emmy juggles her new project with other work responsibilities and a blossoming romance, it all becomes a bit much, but it's nothing Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, can't handle.
Pearce sensitively explores issues facing women in the workplace, which feel timely despite the 70-year gap between Emmy's story and the present. She also draws a winning picture of wartime romance, but the real stars of Yours Cheerfully are Emmy's female friends: the factory workers trying to support their children, the female staff at Woman's Friend, and Bunty, who despite her own grief is the model of a stalwart best friend.
Witty, charming and full of very British pluck, Yours Cheerfully entertains readers while living up to its name. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams