By Jennifer Ryan
From the Back Cover:
As England enters World War II’s dark early days, spirited music professor Primrose Trent, recently arrived to the village of Chilbury, emboldens the women of the town to defy the Vicar’s stuffy edict to shutter the church’s choir in the absence of men and instead “carry on singing.” Resurrecting themselves as “The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir,” the women of this small village soon use their joint song to lift up themselves, and the community, as the war tears through their lives.
Told through letters and journals, THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR moves seamlessly from budding romances to village intrigues to heartbreaking matters of life and death. As we come to know the struggles of the charismatic members of this unforgettable outfit– a timid widow worried over her son at the front; the town beauty drawn to a rakish artist; her younger sister nursing an impossible crush and dabbling in politics she doesn’t understand; a young Jewish refugee hiding secrets about her family, and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past– we come to see how the strength each finds in the choir’s collective voice reverberates in her individual life. In turns funny, charming and heart-wrenching, this lovingly executed ensemble novel will charm and inspire, illuminating the true spirit of the women on the homefront, in a village of indomitable spirit, at the dawn of a most terrible conflict.
Review by Josephine Berglund
Through a series of letters and journal entries, the reader is transported to a small village in England during WWII where the events of the war are seen through the eyes of the women in the choir. Through the characters we experience romance and loss. The characters show themselves to be stronger than they believed as they journey through the hardships during the war. They face a challenge that tests the women’s resolve and as they face it, they find strength in each other’s friendship and their shared love of music. The characters are well developed and provide a unique view of life during the war and how strength triumphed over diversity.