Yours Cheerfully: The Times Bestseller from the author of Dear Mrs Bird (The Emmy Lake Chronicles, 2)

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A lot of the book centers around Emmy’s crusade to find help for these women. This includes a march in the square just before Christmas when there are lots of people about. The parade and speakers are amazing and I wanted to cheer for them. They get things done!! Emmy is over-the-moon at being assigned by Mr. Collins as the reporter to actively report Women's Friend magazine's involvement in this 'call to action'. Once a plan is put in place, Emmy knows the friend she can call upon to interview about working in a munitions factory. It's just the thing to get the ball rolling! British women’s magazines are asked by the Ministry of Information to help in the war effort to recruit female workers. Keen to help, Emmy soon faces the dilemma of duty, friendships and love. Now I write full time. It sounds dramatic but seeing that first magazine online ended up changing my life! Tell me a bit about your latest novel and what inspired it.

Mrs. Mahoney tells Emmy that “caring about getting things right is worth its weight in gold” (16). How do the staff members at Woman’s Friend express that they care about getting things right? I loved this book just a little less than Book 1 but it was still a winner for me. I highly recommend it to those who love Historical Fiction, especially WWII HF. I'm hoping this series continues. I need more of these delightful characters and I would love to see how their lives play out through the end of the war! Mr. Collins encourages Emmy to show the Ministry what our readers can do, and look after the readers while they are doing it. This turns out to be easier said than done. Several women are fired for bringing their children to work when they cannot find adequate childcare. The workers who want to rally for a government-funded childcare facility are told they will lose their jobs if they protest. Emmy must balance a fine line of helping these workers while following the strict guidelines and censorship of the Ministry of Information. Though this book is second in a series, I have not read the first and it read very well as a standalone. There were a few instances where I suspect references were made to the prior story, but it didn’t retract from the novel and I never felt confused or lost. Do you ever create categories in your mind just for your own benefit? Just me?! In my own mind I think of Dear Mrs. Bird as light histfic and Yours Cheerfully as cozy histfic if that makes sense! What I’m trying to communicate is that I see a different degree of war intensity between the two books, but they are both upbeat and charming in tone.

I’m often overwhelmed by the WWII historical fiction genre but this story was unlike any other I have read. I loved Emmy’s patriotism and her feminism and how she was able to stay loyal to both while fighting for what she believed in. I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.” I cannot send enough thank you’s to #NetGalley, the beyond amazing and talented AJ Pearce ( @ajpearcewrites ), and #Scribner ( @scribnerbooks ) for inviting me and sending me an electronic ARC in exchange for my unbiased and honest opinion. Recommended: I’m warmly recommending Yours Cheerfully (and Dear Mrs. Bird) for readers looking for light, inspirational, and heartwarming WW11 historical fiction (closed door romance, no profanity, no graphic violence), for fans of fiesty and independent female protagonists, and for book clubs. I think I enjoyed Yours Cheerfully a bit more than Dear Mrs. Bird but that could be because I’ve become familiar with the characters, the setting, and the author. I’m definitely looking forward to more books in the Emmy Lake series! Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Henrietta Bird, fromWoman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, is still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, but bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

In 1941, Britain had been at war for two years and London had just survived the Blitz—a brutal series of German air raids that dropped more than 12,000 metric tons of bombs from September 1940 to May 1941, killing nearly 30,000 civilians. What do you imagine Londoners were feeling and thinking at this time? As with Dear Mrs. Bird, the women in this book are far more interesting than the men. . . . But perhaps that is one of the points of the book—that the war propelled women out of their traditional roles and into the mess of life, while the men kept a stiff upper lip and carried on." — Minneapolis Star TribuneYours Cheerfully continues where Dear Mrs. Bird, left off (sans Mrs. Bird). It is WWII, circa post Blitz and the focus is on the women, wives and mothers, who work in munitions factories (and other factories aiding in the war effort). It is about the highly motivated and patriotic women workers who raise their banners high in support of their troops, but also need the money to keep home and family together while their husbands are at war. The women are basically taken for granted – filling the jobs of men at inferior salaries and under inferior conditions (at the risk of sounding snarky, I might add, “so what else is new”). What a wonderful break this book was from all of the thrillers that I’ve been reading. This is a follow up to Dear Mrs. Bird, but honestly I liked this one a lot more. Despite the lessons learned in WW1, women were still not permitted to join any existing unions and child care and other basic services for working mothers was almost non-existent. Furthermore, the red tape involved in setting up nurseries during the war was a minefield in itself. Government officials would often fluff off any requests to simplify or escalate the process as being unpatriotic.. Women's requests for fair treatment were shut down and disregarded: "Don't You Know There's a War On?" was the consistent rebuff (The rampant feminist in me was outraged.) A moving story, with some charm, as well, this is a story of life during war, the effect the war has had on these lives, perhaps especially the children who have lost family during the war, this does have happier moments, as well. In fact, one of the nicest things about meeting readers at events and book signings (before Covid of course) is when they tell me how long they have known their best friends. I’ve had lovely conversations about this – it is always inspiring and often very moving. You can’t beat a lifelong best friend! Tell me about authors who inspire you and books which have made a particular impression on you.

Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Henrietta Bird, from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, is still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, but bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It. Mrs. Edwards of Woman Today is a memorable figure and a role model for Emmy. Why does she make such an impression on Emmy? Of course, the other thing is that writing for fun is lovely too. You don’t have to be aiming to be a published author. Writing for yourself or joining a local writing group can be such a great hobby. I’ve made some of my very best friends through writing and that was way before I was published. What’s next? Are you working on another book? Emmy takes on a position as a columnist for Yours Cheerfully in the Women's Friend Magazine. Her and the staff make such a delightful team and I laughed aloud at their escapades. A difficult time for all, but you will find humor in their efforts and circumstances. Am I also able to mention here that I think A J Pearce has done a great job of creating well rounded, engaging characters, full of humour, camaraderie and resilience.

Now enjoy Claire’s chat to A. J. Pearce about her writing and inspiration…

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young mother who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must confront a dilemma between doing her duty and standing by her friends. This reading group guide for Yours Cheerfully includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. Getting to go along with Emmy as she continues her adventures at Women’s Friend magazine was such a breath of fresh air in today’s tough times. Catching up with Bunty after her tragic events in Dear Mrs. Bird, and seeing her soaring was endearing. With the same lovable cast of characters as featured in Dear Mrs. Bird you can’t go wrong. It’s a delightful read —funny and poignant, and a true pitch-perfect pleasure. It takes us to the home front during war, shows the strength of women, is a beautiful love letter to the power of friendship, shows the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times, and reminds us of the toll of stoicism when having to “woman up.” This book truly lives and breathes in this era. It will transport you, and leave you feeling just plain good, (and did I mention there is a wedding full of demonstration marches and breathless missed connections?!?!) - everyone needs a book like this in their life right now! The characters in this one were full of life and determination, in spite of the war raging on. They were smart, resourceful and sometimes unconventional and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Dear Mrs. Bird and was thrilled when I was asked to spend more time with Emmy and Bunty in Yours Cheerfully. AJ Pearce shines a light on the hardships that women factory workers faced during World War II and uses it as a segway to spotlight the plight of working mothers even today. I really hope that readers will like Emmy’s latest challenge, but most of all I hope they will enjoy reading about the friendships in the book. That’s the main thing I write about – how friends share the good times and help each other through bad times.I haven’t read Dear Mrs. Bird but I was assured that this book would be fine to read as even though they are part of the same series Yours Cheerfully could be read as a standalone. From my encounter with this book I totally agree. Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.