Wednesday, May 10, 2017

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan FIC Rya

Life is slowly changing for the residents of Chilbury as World War II picks up steam.  Lacking men to sing in the choir, the Vicar has disbanded it.  But the women of the village are not to be denied and soon form the Chilbury Ladies' Choir.

The novel is told through the lives of five members of the choir:  Kitty, thirteen, determined to be a concert singer and also convinced that her sister's friend has asked her to marry him; Venetia, her older sister who is the town beauty and flirt and drawn to the mysterious new artist in town; Mrs. Tilling, a widowed nurse whose only son has just joined the army; Edwina Paltry, the local midwife who is doing her best to connive her way to a better life; and Sylvie, a 10-year-old Czech refugee who is a silent observer of all that goes on around her and shielding secrets of her own.

This novel is told through letters, diary entries, and journal entries.  What is the difference between a journal and a diary?  A lot when one of them is written by a 13-year-old and the other by a grown woman!  As the war becomes an ever more present reality in the lives of all these women, we watch them grow and change.  

A fun book with characters you come to care about.  I enjoyed reading and hope there might be a sequel in the future.

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