Dear Mrs. Bird and My Twenty-Five Years in Provence

Dear Mrs. Bird: I abandoned Mrs. Bird.  The blurb that grabbed me states it’s for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  I liked that book very much so I was happy when my copy of Dear Mrs. Bird came in at the library.  It’s set in London during  World War II, a favorite era and topic for me, and the star of the book is a young lady named Emmeline Lake who wants to be a war correspondent.

Emmy sees a job advertisement for the London Evening Chronicle and sees that as a path to her dream.  Alas, the job available is a typist position for an old bat named Henrietta Bird.   Mrs. Bird is an advice columnist and she’s a tightly wound prude who tosses out letters she deems inappropriate.

The first part sounded promising to me but I couldn’t connect.  It was slow and boring for me. That’s against the grain to what others are saying about this book so I am in the minority.

My Twenty-Five Years in Provence: Reflections on Now and Then.    It’s Peter Mayle’s last book.  This was in the works for publishing before he died in January.  If you have read any of this Englishman’s Ex-Pat literature about his life in Provence and enjoyed it, you will like this book as well.

He reflects on past excursions, how they came to live in France, language lessons, French culture and culinary wonders.  I have read most of his other books, the fiction and the memoirs, and enjoyed them.

While I will say this wasn’t the best of his Provence memoirs it was still lovely to read.  Lost and good photos in this book which will take the armchair traveler to rural parts of France.

Linking up with  Joy’s Book Blog for British Isles Friday