I've been looking forward for quite a while now to Sarah Blake's The Postmistress, which I just picked up from the library over the weekend. Although my library stack has some tempting books in it at the moment I am planning on diving into this one right away as there is a long line of people waiting to read this one. The story is set in 1940 and follows the paths of three characters whose lives will cross during the course of the war. It's set primarily in the US, but one of the characters is a journalist reporting on the radio from London during the Blitz.
I only have the vaguest sense of what the book is about, which I actually almost prefer (if that doesn't sound too weird). There seem to be quite a few Amazon reviews of this one already (though I believe it was only recently released), but I don't think I want to read them until I've had a chance to get going in the story. I'm only a dozen or so pages in, but here's a little taste of what I've been reading.
"And bombs were falling on Coventry, London, and Kent. Sleek metal pellets shaped like the blunt-tipped ends of pencils aimed down upon hedgerow and thatch. What was a hedgerow? Where was Coventry? In History and Geography, Hitler's army marched upon the school maps of Europe, while next door in English, the voices recited from singsong memory--I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made. Bombers flew above the wattles, over an England filled with the songs of linnets and thrush. There were things being broken we had no American names for. There was war. What did it mean, War? Stretched out upon the pages of Life, the children of Coventry stared up into an inquisitive camera. We could see them. They looked unafraid there in the ditch dug for safety. Their hands spread-eagled against the dirt walls for balance, the two girls still in skirts. There was a boy with no expression. He looked back at us straight, and the collar of his jacket was fastened by a safety pin. He was already there, in the war."
I must say I've been rolling right along with my library books so far this year. Last year I didn't read as many as I would have liked (considering how many I check out over the course of the year). Hopefully I can even things out a bit more this year, but I know I still check out far too many and should be more selective. It's just so hard when looking at those new books lists to not get in line. I'll let you know how this one goes.