THE POSTMISTRESS by Sarah Blake

Finished Mo 12/19/11-My book club's December selection. Early in December I found that our club has been disbanded for a bit. Not sure, but I think that our leader, Anne, is in poor health.

Set just a couple of months before America's entry into WWII, THE POSTMISTRESS is the story of three women who strive to provide three very different functions.

-Iris is the Postmistress who delivers the mail to the small village of Franklin,MA, and is carefully aware of all the moral obligations that her job represents.
-Emma is the wife of the town doctor, and she only wants to be a perfectly loving and complementary wife.
-Frankie is an overseas radio correspondent who is covering the London Blitz, and is also examining Hitler's new plans for the Jews. She saw her job as to, "Get in. Get the story. Get out." But now, she finds herself being changed by the events that she has witnessed.

The novel addresses several intriguing and complicated moral issues.
-Is it enough for a reporter to merely report a story, or do some issues require some sort of action other than a simple compilation of the facts?
-How much do world events affect us even when they occur on the other side of the world? In the Modern World, can one really be an 'Isolationist'?
-Can Life be organized so that it can,'Make Sense', or are we immersed in an unknowable morass of conflicting events and moral complications?
-And, probably my favorite question, can War be fully understood as a component of social change, or does "War happen to people, one by one".

The novel was easy to read, and the characters were well-defined, and the moral issues were tailor-made for reflection and discussion. I liked the book a whole lot!!

Iris James- Postmaster
Franklin, MA-Fictional setting; based on Provincetown MA
Harry Vale-Town mechanic and unofficial civil defense coordinator; lover of Iris
Emma(Trask)Fitch-Lost brother, mother, father in Epidemic of 1918; wife of Will
Dr. Will Fitch- Emma's husband, goes to London to atone for death of Maggie
Frankie Bard-Radio commentator stationed in London
Jim Tom-husband of Maggie; when she dies, he raises the large family as a fisherman

Reviews:
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/2384/the-postmistress

Review and commentary, very good
http://www.thebookladysblog.com/2010/03/19/not-quite-a-book-review-of-the-postmistress-by-sarah-blake/

Website Sarah Blake
http://www.sarahblakebooks.com/

Link to Wannsee Conference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_conference

Link to The Blitz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_blitz