The Postmistress by Sarah Blake.

From Goodreads

The "New York Times" bestseller- "A beautifully written, thought-provoking novel." -#1 "New York Times" bestselling author Kathryn Stockett.
 

In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say, and believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn't deliver it.
 

Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can't touch them. But both Iris and Frankie know better...
 

"The Postmistress" is a tale of two worlds-one shattered by violence, the other willfully naive-and of two women whose job is to deliver the news, yet who find themselves unable to do so. Through their eyes, and the eyes of everyday people caught in history's tide, it examines how stories are told, and how the fact of war is borne even through everyday life. 

 

My review

This is the story of how two worlds can collide and how easily our lives can be interlinked through fate. 

Whilst the story is based on and around World War II the Author has taken some liberties and bent certain events slightly to fit the premise of the story most noteably the use of recording equipment by Frankie, which was still in experimental stages during the war years.

 

I particularly liked the part that Frankie played in this story and felt it was rather sad at times as she recorded the voices of the displaced Jews as they tried to escape the wrath of the Nazis. I felt the Author portrayed the emotions and trials and tribulations of the Jews well. We can only imagine what was going through their minds as they fled for their lives.

 

As the story drew to an emotional (for me) close I shed the odd tear or two. I enjoyed this story and would recommend it as an alternative World War II read for anyone interested in that period of history. I gave it a 9/10.