Here we sit in our relatively safe and secure towns in America while conflicts and wars are being fought and families torn apart in a number of countries across the world. Seventy years ago during World War II our relatives were experiencing the insecurity and devastation of war. Fathers and brothers were fighting in Europe and the Pacific while wives and children suffered through the unknown waiting for a letter; some tangible piece of news from their loved ones.

The Postmistress is an historical World War II novel that immerses one in the feelings experienced by those left behind. I appreciate the thought-provoking storylines of three women who dealt with the difficult times in their own ways. We see the war from the sidelines through the postmistress and a doctor’s wife who live on Cape Cod and listen to the radio broadcasts from Europe. We are thrown into the European front through Frankie Bard, one of the first female war radio broadcasters living in London. She travels by train interviewing refugees to give Americans a feel for the need to be involved and see what is really happening to the Jews.

The connection between these three women becomes entangled on the home front and we experience the emotions of loss and feel the support that characterized life during the war years that many of our parents and grandparents lived through.