by Sarah Blake
First published 2010
Iris James makes an unprecedented choice in 1940. As postmistress of Franklin, a Cape Cod town, she refuses to deliver a letter. Meanwhile, American radio correspondent Frankie Bard works alongside Edward R. Murrow in London, broadcasting reports about the Blitz. During an air raid, Frankie encounters a Cape Cod doctor carrying a letter. She promises to deliver it after completing her assignment in Germany and France, where she documents the experiences of war refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Franklin's residents believe the Atlantic Ocean protects them from European conflicts. Frankie's radio reports reach some townspeople, warning them that war approaches American shores. When Frankie finally arrives in Franklin to fulfill her promise, her mission intersects with Iris's secret in unexpected ways. The war transforms both women as they navigate love, loss, and the weight of undelivered messages. Their stories reveal how ordinary people carry extraordinary burdens during wartime.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cape Cod, Franklin, Germany, France, London
Period: 1940
326 pages · Hardcover · Amy Einhorn Books
Content warnings: war