The Postmistress

December 21, 2009
Weaving together the stories of three very different women loosely tied to each other, debut novelist Blake takes readers back and forth between small town America and war-torn Europe in 1940. Single, 40-year-old postmistress Iris James and young newlywed Emma Trask are both new arrivals to Franklin, Mass., on Cape Cod. While Iris and Emma go about their daily lives, they follow American reporter Frankie Bard on the radio as she delivers powerful and personal accounts from the London Blitz and elsewhere in Europe. While Trask waits for the return of her husband—a volunteer doctor stationed in England—James comes across a letter with valuable information that she chooses to hide. Blake captures two different worlds—a naïve nation in denial and, across the ocean, a continent wracked with terror—with a deft sense of character and plot, and a perfect willingness to take on big, complex questions, such as the merits of truth and truth-telling in wartime.

Blake brings history to life in her powerful portrayal of three American women caught up in WWII. Frankie Bard has gone to England to broadcast the war to the U.S., where Iris and Emma wait on Cape Cod for news of the ones they love. Orlagh Cassidy's talent shines in this excellent production. She produces a convincing English accent and nails the clipped and taciturn New England twang. When postmistress Iris makes a critical decision about the delivery of a letter in her keeping, narrator Cassidy keeps listeners engaged with the unforeseen consequences of that act. Throughout the novel Cassidy portrays each character with dead-on emotions. D.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Starred review from June 1, 2010
In the years preceding the United States' entrance into World War II, radio journalist Frankie Bard broadcasts from London during the air raids. Among her listeners are several residents of a small Cape Cod town. Writing in starkly descriptive prose, novelist Blake ("Grange House") offers a revealing and intimate look at this moment in history, moving back and forth between small-town America and war-torn Europe and intertwining the narratives of three unique women along the way. Actress/narrator Orlagh Cassidy ("The Piano Teacher") does a superb job of rendering this quietly powerful story; highly recommended. [The Putnam hc also received a starred review, "LJ" 12/09.Ed.]Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo

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