Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce: a WWII story

In the fourth – and equally delightful as its predecessors – book about Emmy Lake, it is 1944, the war seems endless, and even the upbeat staff of Women’s Friend magazine are exhausted by the need for nonstop positive messaging:

Our job at Woman’s Friend was to help keep up morale, to share information, offer advice, and perhaps as much as anything, show women that they had our friendship and respect. We received hundreds of letters, week in and week out, asking for help. The flow of problems never, ever let up. They may have been from strangers, but we did everything in our power to respond. You could put us on the moon and the team would continue to work their socks off.

Emmy is visiting her best friend Bunty in Hampshire when Bunty suggests moving the entire magazine staff to the country for the summer for a respite from the Blitz. Her grandmother’s palatial home is no longer requisitioned by the US Army, so it is available. It turns out Good Housekeeping moved operations to Wales for most of the war, so why not? The staff are enthusiastic when they learn they can bring their spouses (but don’t forget the ration books!). This might be a shade too much togetherness but it brings the staff even more together than they were before, and they are a huge source of comfort to Emmy when crisis strikes.

In the meantime, Bunty gets married – Emmy’s boss and brother-in-law, Guy, gives the bride away – and everyone gets to enjoy a perfectly happy day without thinking about the war. And Emmy gets an opportunity to fulfill her dream of being a war correspondent when the Ministry of Information asks her to go to Belgium to interview British servicewomen working abroad. She even gets a uniform, which she longs to show to her husband who is sequestered in Wiltshire, although she starts with a telephone call:

The truth was that I would have loved to have seen him, especially once I was all togged up in my uniform, but I’d been spoilt by having Charles for a whole weekend at the wedding and there was, after all, a war on. It was no time to be a demanding spouse. “I’ll get Monica to take a picture so you can see me looking important. Holding a notebook Investigative yet thoughtful, that kind of thing.”

“Chewing a pencil?” asked Charles, joining in.

“Definitely.”

Emmy and her friends are so well depicted over this series that a reader who has been with them since the first book (which I advise - my favorite book of 2019), Dear Mrs. Bird, will rejoice to see Bunty happy again after losing her original fiancé two weeks before the wedding and for Emmy to be triumphant in her career and her marriage. Pearce’s ability to combine humor and heartbreak is amazing and makes this series exceptional reading, not just for WWII fans but for anyone who likes a feel good story with memorable and appealing characters. What about one more book to find Guy a happy ending, AJ?

This is my twelfth book for the Intrepid Reader's 2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.  My previous reviews of this series here.

Title: Dear Miss Lake
Author: AJ Pearce
Publication: Scribner, hardcover, 2025
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Copy received from the publisher