Dear Mrs. Bird

This charming, irresistible debut novel set in London during World War II is about a young woman who longs to be a war correspondent and inadvertently becomes a secret advice columnist. Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are doing their bit for the war effort and trying to stay cheerful, despite the German planes making their nightly raids.

Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance; but after a rather unfortunate misunderstanding, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, renowned advice columnist of Woman's Friend magazine. Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin.

But as Emmy reads the desperate pleas from women who may have Gone Too Far with the wrong man, or can't bear to let their children be evacuated, she begins to secretly write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles.

This is a love letter to the enduring power of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary times. Irrepressibly funny and enormously moving, Dear Mrs. Bird is about the strength of women and the importance of friendship.