Our guest this week is AJ Pearce, the author of Dear Mrs. Bird, a lovely novel about female friendship set in World War II’s London. Emmy is determined to be a Lady War Correspondent, but instead finds herself working for the redoubtable Mrs Bird at the problem page of a Women’s Magazine. AJ spoke to me about how she put herself in the shoes of women who lived during the blitz, the challenges of using real events in her fiction, and her own favourite World War II novels.
You can listen to the episode here,
or Spotify, or iTunes,
or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Books Mentioned on the Podcast:
Dear Mrs. Bird, by AJ Pearce
Cheerfulness Breaks in, by Elizabeth E. Wein
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne
Code Name Verity, by Angela Thirkell
Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams
Pigeon Pie, by Nancy Mitford
Louis & Louise, by Julie Cohen
If Only I Could Tell You, by Hannah Beckerman
The Doll Factory, by Elizabeth Macneal
What Would the Spice Girls Do?: How the Girl Power Generation Grew Up, by Lauren Bravo
The Book of the Year 2018: Your Definitive Guide to the World’s Weirdest News, by No Such Thing As a Fish
Brief Answers to the Big Questions, by Stephen Hawking
The Life and Times of a Very British Man, by Kamel Ahmed.
Unscripted, by Claire Handscombe
(A note on my book links: they usually take you to Amazon, and I get a few pence per sale at no extra cost to you if you click them and buy from there, which will help me make this podcast viable long-term. But better than Amazon, who are, let’s be honest, not the greatest, is Blackwells or Waterstones, or, even better, your local independent bookshop. If you live in the US or elsewhere further afield, you can find UK books at Book Depository (also owned by Amazon) at a good price and with no postage cost, or sometimes at Wordery.com, or you can buy them from Amazon US, or, even better, an independent bookshop.)
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