Mrs. Porter Calling is Book #3 in the Series "The Emmy Lake Chronicles"!

It's now Spring in London, April 1943, as WWII continues for more than three years. One year has already passed since Emmy's marriage to Captain Charles Mayhew, who's off fighting the war
Emmy is grateful to have her work at "Women's Friend" magazine as she remains in charge of the heavily read advice column, "Yours Cheerfully", which keeps her plenty busy.

Just when she thinks all is going as planned, there's change in the air...

Publisher Lord Overton has died and left "Women's Friend" magazine to his niece and socialite, the Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter, who has, 'ahem', quite a presence.

Mrs. Porter knows nothing about "Women's Friend", publishing, editing, or the demographics of the readership, but wants to make a few changes that will barely be noticeable and are bound to make the magazine better.

Unfortunately, what Mrs. Porter wants to change is everything the readers love about the magazine, and so the chaos begins...

Mrs. Porter Calling gave me cause for a happy dance. My fingers were crossed this series would continue, so hearing about Book #3 was a delightful surprise.

The character of Mrs. Porter was quite a boost and brought a crazy amount of excitement to the story. She's complicated, hard to read, inconsistent, and just when the group at "Women's Friend" thinks they have her figured out, she slithers through their fingers. Personally, I wanted to ring Mrs. Porter's socialite neck. What a great character!

The second half of the story definitely has a faster pace and where most of the movement in the story happens. A tragedy hits hard, and it's one I didn't see coming but solidifies why this series is so heartfelt, touching, and loved by so many readers. Get the tissues out, folks, you're going to need them.

Mrs. Porter Calling is a great balance between the changes happening at 'Women's Friend' magazine and dealing with the hardships of day-to-day life in London during wartime. I love this story and only wish for more correspondence between Emmy and Charles, I love their letters of support and love, and I didn't get near enough of Emmie's or Bunty's families. Maybe next time?

Yes, my fingers are crossed, once again, for a Book #4...

I highly recommend Mrs. Porter Calling to readers who love Historical Fiction that circles around families and friendships!

4?

Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner, and A.J. Pearce for an ARC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.advanced-reading-copy british-literature netgalley ...more119 s7 comments Liz2,299 3,113

I am typically not a fan of women’s fiction, even when it’s historic. But the first two books in the Emily Lake series truly worked for me. And so did this one for the most part.
This time around, Lord Overton, the magazine’s publisher has died and he’s left the magazine to his niece, the Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter, who just wants to make the teensiest little changes to the magazine, because it’s just so dull and dreary. Needless to say, the world Mrs. Porter inhabits and the one the readers of Woman’s Friend do are vastly different. Soon enough, Mrs. Porter’s changes are more than teensy. Unfortunately, Mrs. Porter quickly became a total cliche of the evil/clueless character, which made those sections of the story way too predictable. “Miss Lake, you always side with the women, and I fear it makes us look as if we are bitter, which is horribly unattractive.”
The personal story of Emily and her best friends, Bunty and Thelma, works much better. Pearce handles the volunteer work, the rationing and the attempts to still have a normal life wonderfully. “One day, I thought to myself, talking about borrowing a pair of shoes in the same breath as saying that people had been bombed will seem very strange and more than ly insensitive in the extreme. But it was normal conversation now. Just what we did, even though there was nothing normal about it at all.”
In fact, it’s the personal side of the story which pulled it through. Pearce shows us exactly what a horrible toll war takes. I will admit to crying through a meaningful section of the book. But it’s also a reminder of how people pull together and carry on. The ending was lovely and plus perfect.
My thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for an advance copy of this book.netgalley68 s1 comment Darla3,801 837

Emmy Lake is back with the full staff from "Woman's Friend" and her roomie Bunty. The paper has a new owner--the Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter--who just wants to make a few teensy weeks changes. What about the readers? The advertisers? Does Mrs. Porter really want to learn about newspaper publishing or is she just looming for a vanity project? This is more about the fate of the publication as a whole and seemed to have fewer letters thsn the earlier books in the series. I found it to be both heartwarming and humorous. Note that the realities of living in London during the war are also a part of the story. I loved every chapter.quest-summer-202360 s20 comments Karren Sandercock 958 232

London, April 1943.
Emmeline Lake loves her job working at the Women’s Friend magazine, readers write to her about their problems and she provides helpful advice. English women are struggling, their husbands have been away fighting in the war for years, and they have been left behind to juggle raising children, working, lining up for food and making everything stretch.

When, the new owner of the magazine arrives, the Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter, she decides to make changes and despite having no publishing experience. The editor Guy Collins (Emmy's brother-in-law) tries to steer Mrs. Porter in the right direction, she won’t listen and the faithful readers of Women’s Friend are in for a shock.

Mrs. Porter doesn’t Emmy’s advice column at all, she thinks it rather common, dreary and depressing. "The Egg" takes over the meeting room, she wants Emmy to write about society engagements, weddings and Emmy’s not impressed. Upper class women start sending in letters asking Emmy for guidance, the poor dears are struggling to find domestic staff and missing children who have been sent to boarding school. Emmy feels the regular readers of Women’s Friend have been let down, abandoned and she’s failed them.

Emmy has the support of her best friend and housemate Bunty, Thelma Jenkins and her children, George, Margaret and Stan. Soon Guy, Emmy, Bunty and her friend Harold Thomas and the staff at Women’s Friend are trying to save the magazine before Mrs. Porter loses the loyal subscribers and advertising accounts. When a tragedy happens, Emmy, Bunty, Guy and Harold all step in and help the Jenkins family.

I received a copy of Mrs. Porter Calling by A. J. Pearce from NetGalley and Pan Macmillan in exchange for an honest review. The third book in The Emmy Lake Chronicles is just as delightful as the two previous books, Dear Mrs. Bird and Yours Cheerfully. With a cast of wonderful characters, clever use of the English language and quaint sayings. Mrs. Porter Calling is suitable for a variety of readers and age groups, I absolutely adore Emmy and Bunty and five stars from me. In the next installment, I hope Bunty finds happiness and she deserves it and Emmy gets to spend time with her husband Charles.netgalley netgalley-reading-challenge-202347 s Cheri1,880 2,736


Set in London, this begins in April of 1943, as World War II continues. This is the third book in the Emmy Lake Chronicle series, with Emmy’s husband, Captain Charles Mayhew, off fighting in the war. Emmy sends him letters often, and spends much of her time writing the ’Yours Cheerfully’ column for the ’Woman’s Friend’ magazine as the war continues on. Emmie is still running the advice column, and is devoted to both the column and actually listening to the reader’s stories, their problems and concerns. She considers what she does as helpful, occasionally crucial, and often heartbreaking, but her ability to truly listen and often sound advice is not insignificant. The mail they receive for the ’Woman’s Friend’ column is not just needed for some of those who write of more difficult problems, but also some not quite as urgent.

When a new publisher, the ’Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter’ becomes the new publisher, who turns everything upside down, and insists on tossing out what their readers love the most - the relatable issues, the concerns about their loved ones, the war, recipes, and personal issues and wants to turn it into a ‘society’ magazine for the ‘right’ crowd, the ones who are not struggling financially. The one that she targets to start with is Emmy’s ’Yours Cheerfully’ column, one of the more popular columns. Instead of keeping a popular column for the average reader, she wants to replace it with sharing the newest, most fashionable clothing, and stories about what the rich and semi-famous are wearing and doing.

Emmy and the children who enter her life, her friends and loved ones are what keep this story engaging, and Emmy’s desire to give more of her time to share the lives of those whose women who work is not only important, but crucial, as the jobs who previously were held by men who are now serving their country, can now show that they are capable of doing these jobs - if only the companies would provide child-care.

A moving story, with some charm, as well, this is a story of life during war, the effect the war has had on these lives, perhaps especially the children who have lost family during the war, this does have happier moments, as well.

A story of friendship, loss, and most of all, love.


Pub Date: 08 Aug 2023

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Scribner
2023 2023-ng-challenge 2023-publication ...more39 s14 comments Lisa Vegan2,828 1,273

I love the characters in this series. I’m very fond of many of them. Their stories and the book’s story are heartwarming.

I think of these books as humorous and there are quite a few amusing lines & situations in them but it wasn’t until a tragedy happened in this book that I remembered how the first two books also had many serious parts. I will also say that I smiled a lot at the funny things but I didn’t laugh and I think I did laugh at lines in the two previous books. (It might have been my mood.)

My favorite parts were the personal relationships and characters. Here I really d Emmy and Bunty and Guy, as I always do, but also the children and Harold and Hester and Clarence, and many others too. I could have done without the two dimensional Mrs. Porter though. I would have preferred that she’d been depicted just a tad less the villain but I know that there are people her. I was much more irritated than entertained though.

I think that this book/series does a wonderful job showing what it was in London during WWII. I love all the historical details. I appreciate the author placing her fictional characters in real events of that time. Powerfully done!

Most of the way through it was 4 stars for me but the ending bumped it up. It’s only the start of 1944 when this book ends so I imagine there will be a fourth book. If there is I will read it. 4-1/2 stars

I’m struggling to read and for even this book it took me longer to get through it than it would have otherwise but it always held my interest and I enjoyed it throughout.

“You didn’t miss someone any less, you just made room for other things to surround the gap they had left.”1-also-at-librarything dogs fiction ...more33 s30 comments Marianne3,680 256

Mrs Porter Calling is the third book in the Emmy Lake Chronicles series by British author, AJ Pearce. Emmy Lake has been married for over a year to Charles Mayhew, but misses him terribly: so many husbands, he’s away fighting. She continues to live with her best friend, Bunty, and they share her grandmother’s Pimlico house with needy women.

But now the top flat is free, while their friend Thelma is in an awful damp flat with her three children. It seems the perfect solution: a nice flat and a back garden for the children; sharing cooking, chores and ration coupons, and good company. Soon they have former army bomb squad Captain Harold Thomas, who has a gentle eye on Bunty, rebuilding the dilapidated back shed.

At Woman’s Friend, major changes: Lord Overton’s death sees his niece, the Hon Mrs Cressida Porter becoming owner and publisher. And while her fluffy persona initially wins over staff with charm and sweets, editor Guy Collins is wary. It’s quickly clear that Mrs Porter (call me Egg) isn’t as daft as she seems.

Beguiling, rich and frivolous, she has ideas of her own about the magazine, and Emmy is dismayed to find they include cutting just about everything that readers love about their publication, things Mrs Porter regards as “A Bit Mis”. She wants prettier models, less ugly babies, evening frocks, and fancier recipes. Is she trying to turn it into a society magazine?

Guy Collins is having to tread a fine diplomatic line between sustaining what they have seen as the magazine’s raison d’etre, being a voice for the reader, and pleasing a superficial, demanding owner and her snooty 2IC. Emmy despairs at the idea of culling the readers letters to Yours Cheerfully to include only the “cheerier problems”; she’s told that the war work articles need feature less dreary careers; and readers’ own contributions, Woman’s Friend to Friend, will be heavily cut to allow room for Mrs Porter’s own column.

Worse still, Mrs Porter thinks she’s doing Emmy a huge favour by sending her out to interview wealthy brides-to-be about their society weddings. As the months progress, Guy concedes that he may have underestimated their new publisher. His valiant attempts to preserve their important connection with the readers, by cajoling, negotiating, flattering, and in the end, more or less begging Mrs Porter, are to no avail. Emmy is shocked to find him on the point of giving up.

Their cleverly contrived three-point plan to curb Mrs Porter’s more radical changes unfortunately works too well, in a direction that Guy and Emma hadn’t anticipated. Can they rescue Woman’s Friend and her loyal staff from a terrible fate?

An audacious plan born of a casual remark gets the staff enthused about potential salvation, but before that can get off the ground, the war intervenes and a tragic loss sees Emmy facing a bewildering challenge that takes precedence over Woman’s Friend.

This instalment features guinea pigs, chickens and ducks, a very spoilt dog with a discerning bite, a traitorous staff member, a budding romance (or two), and some very brave children. Pearce’s portrayal of life and its challenges during war demonstrates her thorough research.

Pearce easily captures her era and setting, her characters are endearing, and the plot is realistic. While most issues seem to be neatly wrapped up, more of this engaging cast is most definitely welcome. This is heart-warming and uplifting historical fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Pan Macmillan/Picador.wishlist25 s Dale HarcombeAuthor 14 books375

Four and a half stars.
Sometimes you pick up a book you know nothing about and it works. Other times not so much. This book belongs in the first category. It charmed me.
Set during World War 2, the story starts in London starting in 1943.Emmy Lake agony aunt for for the magazine Woman’s Friend, is busy trying to help readers as they face the challenges of life on the home front. Her husband is away with the war and Emmy puts everything she has into her work. She has a real heart for people and their problems. Guy Collins, the editor and his team are all educated hard workers at the magazine. When the owner, Lord Overton dies, his niece the Honourable Cressida Porter steps in. She is all charm until her wishes are thwarted when her real nature revealed.
Emmy, Guy and her two friends Bunty and Thelma have to work together to try and stop Mrs Porters disregard for their readers and save the magazine from being destroyed
Emmy, and her friends are all great, well meaning, generous and easy to empathise with. This is book 3 in a series in the Emmy Lake Chronicles. I had not read the other 2 but this book stands alone fine.
A charming story of friendship and working together plus details of the rationing and hardships experienced during the war. It is a lovely read for these aspects in particular.
Mrs Porter does tend to be rather one dimensional but it is easy to overlook given the rest of the positives. And just a note of warning, tissues may be needed. A very enjoyable easy read. So glad I read it.21 s8 comments Kellie O'Connor267 127

This will be a quick review because my Goodreads page went down earlier today! Ugh
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