Dear Miss Lake

I received Dear Miss Lake (#1,367) by A J Pearce as a giveaway on Goodreads and I was thrilled.  I have read and suffered through the war years in London with Emmy Lake and her friends at Women's Friend magazine in previous books.  This is the fourth and final book in the Emmy Lake Chronicles, I am sad to say.

Looking on the bright side, though it is difficult after years of sacrifice and loss on the home front, the war finally seems to be coming to an end.  Hitler has redoubled his efforts to destroy London's spirit with the new V-1 rockets and the Allies are making their final push in Europe to bring him to heel.  It's just so hard to hold on to a positive attitude at home...

One thing that makes life easier for the hard-working staff at Women's Friend is a move to a country estate where Emmy's friend Bunty is making a new life for herself on her grandmother's estate.  The manor house at Rose Hall is transformed into a working magazine where the staff can enjoy a respite from the constant bombing.  The fact that their diets can be supplemented with fresh produce from the estate certainly doesn't hurt, either.  

Meanwhile, the mail bags of letters addressed to Miss Lake asking for her advice continue to grow as casualties mount and the stress of constant "making do" wears on everyone.  Emmy can hardly keep up with the volume of letters, so others on the staff help pitch in to sort and prioritize the most urgent mail.  

Emmy herself joins the ranks of those women waiting anxiously for months for word of their loved ones.  How can Emmy make her readers know that she understands what it is like for them, yet maintain the positive attitude the government insists on?  Can Victory come soon enough for all of them?

Ms. Pearce brings things to a satisfying conclusion in her final book.  Much as I enjoyed this series, I would highly recommend that you read the four books in order beginning with Dear Mrs. Bird.  The plot line just moves right along without much recap in the subsequent books.  Binge reading might be a good approach for these books!

And I will add one final caveat: I dislike the cover art of Dear Miss Lake just as much as I did the original cover of Dear Mrs. Bird.  I never would have picked that first book up if I hadn't read a good review of it.  You really can't judge a book by its cover!