My Rating: 4 stars
Written in a unique manner that consists entirely of letters and journal entries, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir is a delightful tale about the trials and tribulations that the citizens of a small town in England go through as their country is plunged into World War II. When the story begins, most of the men in the small town of Chilbury have been sent off to war, leaving behind all the women of the town as well as the older men from the ruling families to carry on as best they can. The village's Vicar decides to disband the long-running Chilbury Choir because he feels they "can't have a choir without men," however when music professor Primrose Trent arrives in town, she convinces him to allow the choir to be reinstated. Under Prim's leadership, the Chilbury Ladies' Choir is formed and not long after that, the group takes on the important role of uniting and uplifting their small community as it struggles to deal with the chaos brought on by the war.
The story is told from the perspectives of multiple characters who record in vivid detail the day-to-day happenings in their small village. Through these' characters' letters and journal entries, we as readers get to bear witness to everything from local town gossip to major issues of life and death, but throughout it all, we get to see the fighting spirit of this wonderful group of women who all contribute to the war effort in their own ways. At times funny and heartwarming, especially when depicting the minor squabbles between villagers, yet also tragic and heartbreaking when lives are lost during the first raids on the village, the book actually covers quite a bit of ground on the emotional spectrum. Content-wise, it deals with a variety of issues ranging from class system, gender stereotypes, society conventions and expectations, to family relationships, love and romance, scandals, betrayals, the resilience of the human spirit, etc., all set against the historical backdrop of the war and its impact on the lives of ordinary citizens.
For me personally, I enjoyed reading about the different characters and how their backgrounds shape their actions and experiences throughout the book. Almost all of the characters (except for one or two) are likable in some way and even the ones that are flawed have redeeming qualities that make it difficult to hate them even when they do unscrupulous things. It was also interesting to see how the same situation / event could be viewed in completely different ways and how the actions that we take based on that can result in drastic consequences. I also like how the characters were portrayed realistically, which made it easier to relate to what the characters were going through. As I was reading, I kept drawing similarities of some of the characters to people I know in real life (for example – the exceedingly annoying Mrs. B, who is pompous and rude and loves to flaunt her wealth but is actually a good person underneath). This made the reading experience fun and enjoyable, despite the at times heavy subject matter.
I definitely recommend this book, especially for its uplifting, "feel-good" quality, which is hard to come by in a book set in the WWII era. This is actually one of the few war-related books I've read in recent months that didn't leave me feeling sad and depressed. Enjoyable and delightful read!
Received advance reader's copy from Crown Publishing via Blogging for Books and NetGalley.
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