Jennifer Ryan's The Chilbury Ladies' Choir: A Novel is a fun
novel told in the form of diaries and letters in the voices of the
female characters and captures some of the richest experiences of women
during World War II.In 1940, at a time when women's roles were still firmly rooted in home and hearth, the ladies of Chilbury, England, find themselves at the bleeding edge of progress as the ramifications of World War II begin to infiltrate their little town. The men of Chilbury head to battlefields, and the village choir becomes the first casualty of the war. When a female professor of music insists the choir can be reassembled as a ladies' choir, the small community is at first scandalized by such an idea. But this is soon lost to other more salacious events. There is the brigadier who hires an unscrupulous midwife to swap his baby girl for a boy, and his teenage daughter seduces a handsome artist who's come to town under mysterious circumstances.
... And more.
This is a great novel that captures what it's like to be women at a time when women's voices are literally being stiffled.
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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review here.