December 2023

Jennifer Ryan’s novel, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, starts with the church choir struggling through the first funeral of World War II, for their little English village. I thought I knew what this book would be like, and I was surprised to read “Edmund Winthrop, only twenty and blown up in the North Sea.’ I sighed.”… “He was a vicious bully, and well you know it,’ Mrs. B. barked.”

I expected a sweet or saccharine novel, about women on the Home Front in World War II. Or, perhaps it would be a difficult novel with heart-rending problems, taking itself terribly seriously. Well, there are problems, but there is also a good sense of humor. Warning to the Reader, keep an eye open for men who look good, but turn out to be vicious bullies. And others who look like rotters, and turn out well.

Mrs. B goes on to give her opinion of Edmund, his father and the rest of the Winthrop family who will be devastated if there is no longer a male heir to the estate. Mrs. Winthrop is expecting a baby at any moment, but what if it’s a girl? Keep an eye on the unscrupulous midwife.

Oh, yes, and the Choir! The Vicar has the audacity to close down the church choir because most of the men in it, have gone to war. He does not think that women can sing by themselves. Some people think women can’t do a lot of things. Mrs. Tilling, who writes the journal that starts the book, would agree. Then she finds herself changing and becoming brave. Other people are
writing letters or diaries, and they are showing who they are, and then changing as the war progresses.

Primrose, a new arrival in Chilbury, resurrects the church choir as the new Ladies’ Choir, and breaths life and enthusiasm into the villagers. Mrs. Tilling is the billeting officer for the village, and is foisting refuges and “important people from Litchfield Park” on other people who have a spare room, and then —- Her son has gone to war, his room is vacant, and suddenly Colonel
Mallard is living in her house. Good lord, what next?

One of the journal writers is Kitty Winthrop, age “almost fourteen,” who thinks she is engaged (at her age!) to Henry, handsome son of Mrs. B. The problem is, Henry, age 19, thinks he is engaged to Venetia, who is Kitty’s older sister, who is in love with Mr. Slater, a painter who is seen sneaking around the woods with a stranger who speaks German. Don’t over look the sinister butler who is up to no good! Did I mention that this novel works on many levels, and covers more troubles and also more funny things than one can expect? Did I mention that I am reading this book for the third time in a row, and I am enchanted with it?

Run to the Adult Services section of the Pine Bush Area Public Library and pry this book out of my hands, and take it home and read it for yourself. Even if you have no singing voice, you will want to join The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.