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Dear Mrs Bird

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Dear Mrs Bird

By: AJ Pearce
Narrated by: Anna Popplewell
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About this listen

Read by Anna Popplewell, known for her role in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Richard & Judy Book Club Pick
Sunday Times Bestseller

Set during London's blitz and filled with warmth, wit and heartbreak, Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce is a wartime story about the power of friendship, the kindness of strangers and the courage of ordinary people.


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 terrifying 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 letters from the women the war has left lovelorn, grief-stricken or conflicted.

But the thought of these desperate women waiting for an answer becomes impossible for Emmy to ignore. She decides she simply must help and secretly starts to write back – after all, what harm could that possibly do?

'The most uplifting, lovely book about courage, friendship, love' – Marian Keyes
'Utterly charming and helplessly funny' – Jenny Colgan

'A proper comfort read' – India Knight

©2018 AJ Pearce (P)2018 Macmillan Digital Audio
20th Century Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction World War II Romance Feel-Good Heartfelt Tear-jerking Funny War
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Critic reviews

If I had only known how much I was going to adore Dear Mrs Bird, I wouldn’t have gobbled it down all at once. Funny, fresh, and touching, Dear Mrs Bird is a treat of a read. (Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society)
I fell in love with Dear Mrs Bird on page one and completely adored every single word . . . a wonderfully heartwarming book, which I will recommend to everyone I know (Jill Mansell)
A marvellous treat. Charming and delightful. (Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina)
A joy from start to finish. Dear Mrs Bird is as funny as it is heart-warming. (John Boyne, author The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas)
An utterly charming story of friendship, heartbreak and heroism... You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love it (Lucy Diamond)
Books that make you shake with laughter and sob with tears are rare. I gulped this one down but didn’t stop thinking about it for a long time (Katie Fforde)
A thoroughly lovely book, and reading it is like a great big shot of serotonin in the arm. I defy anyone not to fall for its numerous charms (Kate Riordan)
Dear Mrs Bird is a triumph – authentic, funny and packed with heart. (Miranda Dickinson, Sunday Times Bestselling Author)
A wonderful wartime story that is funny, yet poignant and realistic. I can't wait for the next in the series. (Kate Fforde)

What listeners say about Dear Mrs Bird

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  • Overall
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Wonderful

Such a wonderful book. Highly recommended. Great story and characters. Such an interesting topic, women in the WWII.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Loved the book, not so much the narrator

I enjoyed the story but the narrator ruined it for me - far to shouty and shrill. She set my teeth on edge. If I hadn't enjoyed the book so much I would have returned it.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Lovely story

Lovely story. Slow start but worth staying with. Clear demonstration of the changes in society in relation to what problems are openly discussed. Has a lovely warm romance through its core and much loyalty. A refreshing read of what is most important from and era of thrift and loss to todays affluence.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Thoroughly recommended

A lovely book, interesting story line which gave an insight into a period of history from a perspective which I’d not heard before. I enjoyed the story throughout, from the start to the end.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A nice enough story but ...

Lacks depth and I felt that the novel is more suited to a younger audience.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Didn’t want it to end!

After spending a lot of time with my Nanny when I was a young girl, and sadly losing her in 1997, this book made me feel so close to her. Just like Emmie and Bunty she was a young woman who did her bit during those war times and lived in London. Through this story and the amazingly detailed accounts of how it was back in those days, I literally felt like I lived it with her.
This story, in parts, had me laughing and crying, with tears rolling down my cheeks-sometimes happy tears but also very sad tears. I imagined my Nan who also lost her true love to the battlefields and how this story was a reflection of those times to a tee. How hard it was and how we could never truly understand the devastation and hardship our families suffered. We owe that generation everything. I am humbled and filled with admiration. I want to read more from this lovely writer. She also does a little explanation at the end of the book, which I found fascinating. To hear where she found her inspiration for the book left me dreaming about being a woman in those times too. Thank you AJ Pearce very much. Thank you to all those who lived through those times and lost loved ones too. And love you Nanny Wilson, always. Xxxx

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable story, easy listening, lovely narration

This is a lovely quirky book that takes you to a time in the blitz (not a favourite time in history) it keeps it's pace, feels genuine and actually authentic, it doesn't kill you with sentimental rubbish and is beautifully narrated, a lovely gentle story that you will appreciate listening to for sheer pleasure hopefully just as I did

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story

Loved it! The story really transported me back to the war years. I really recommend it

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

A well written and beautifully performed book. I really enjoyed it and found myself drawn into the world of Emmy, Bunty and the formidable Mrs Bird. Funny and touching I recommend this for anyone who is interested in the period.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect escapism

I seldom listen to fiction but this was recommended - beautifully and authentically written, very well presented and a joy to listen to, the characters and storylines are believable and absorbing, I was sad to get to the end!

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