The Postmistress

The Postmistress
By Sarah Blake
Amy Einhorn Books/G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2010. 326 pgs. Fiction

Iris James is a straightforward, play by the rules woman who runs the Franklin post office. Frankie Bard, radio gal, is dedicated to informing Americans of the horrors of war and the plights of the displaced and hunted Jewish people at the beginning of the Second World War. Emma Fitch, newlywed, is thankful to be starting her new life as the doctor’s wife and to have a husband who makes her feel visible once again, after the deaths of her family years ago. Not really connected at the beginning of the novel, these three women become intimately acquainted because of two letters by the end of this thought-provoking read.

I read this book a bit disjointedly and wish now I had had the time to read it in one or two chunks; I believe it would have had more of an impact on me. But I still felt the weight of Blake’s message about truth, what it means to each individual, and how it can burden a person. I loved seeing how the three women came together, all three burdened, but reaching some sort of relief as they were united by one event.

MN