MRS PORTER CALLING
(OUT 8 AUGUST 2023)
In turn funny and heartbreaking, and filled with warmth and charm. The new story of friendship, love and courage when all seems lost from AJ Pearce, The Sunday Times bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird and Yours Cheerfully.
London, April 1943.
Emmy Lake is an advice columnist at Woman’s Friend magazine, doing all she can to help readers as they face the challenges of wartime life. With her column thriving and a team of women behind her, Emmy finally feels she is Doing Her Bit. But when the glamorous new owner arrives, everything changes and Emmy quickly realises the Honourable Mrs Cressida Porter plans to destroy everything readers love about the magazine…
“Heartbreaking yet feel-good, we loved it.”
Woman and Home
“If Nancy Mitford and Jilly Cooper had collaborated in 1943, I can imagine Mrs Porter Calling might be the result. Humorous and sharp, poignant and profound, it is a book that will stay in my heart and on my shelf.”
“Mrs Porter Calling is a winning combination of warmth, humour and a compelling story of the power of friendship. This book really is a joy.”
Katie Fforde
YOURS CHEERFULLY
The charming and hilarious tonic we’ve all been waiting for. The Times bestseller, Yours Cheerfully, is the uplifting sequel to Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce.
London, September 1941.
Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Mrs Henrietta Bird, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake at Woman’s Friend magazine. Now a agony aunt, while the war rages on, Emmy is determined to do all she can to help on the Home Front. When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit female supporters to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to help…
“Yours Cheerfully: the best possible antidote for the blahs, the doldrums, all slumps, all dumps, but also effective against letdowns and general malaise. Loved. Every. Word.”
Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
“In an unreliable world, I’m glad we can depend on AJ Pearce to deliver a delectable read.”
Annie Barrows, co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“An absolute delight! Endearing, poignant, and relevant, this uplifting novel is a treat!”
Janet Skeslien Charles, author of The Paris Library
DEAR MRS BIRD
The Sunday Times Bestseller and Richard & Judy Book Club Pick. Irresistibly funny and moving, Dear Mrs Bird is a love letter to the enduring power of friendship, the kindness of strangers and the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
London, 1941.
Amid the falling bombs Emmeline Lake dreams of becoming a fearless Lady War Correspondent. Unfortunately, Emmy instead finds herself employed as a typist for the formidable Henrietta Bird, the renowned agony aunt at Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs Bird refuses to read, let alone answer, letters containing any form of Unpleasantness, and definitely not those from the lovelorn, grief-stricken or morally conflicted…
“’Perfect wartime details, but it’s the voice that really makes this debut shine. A tragicomedy set amid falling bombs, it’s a jaunty, heartbreaking winner.”
People Magazine
“Funny, fresh, and touching, Dear Mrs. Bird is a pitch-perfect pleasure. It’s a rare and wonderful thing to read a book that seems to live properly in its era.”
Annie Barrows, co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
“A joy from start to finish. Dear Mrs. Bird is as funny as it is heartwarming.”
John Boyne, author of The Heart’s Invisible Furies