Early Reviewers

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir tells the stories in letters and journals of five members of a female-only choir in an English village in Kent during World War II. Initially shuttered, as all its men had gone off to war, the choir resurrects itself as a "ladies group" when a charismatic music teacher emboldens the village's women to carry on singing in the name of national pride and wartime effort. The story moves effortlessly from village intrigue to heartbreaking matters of life and death, and we come to know the home-front struggles of five charismatic members of this unforgettable outfit: a timid widow wracked with worry over her only son off at the front; the older daughter of a local scion drawn to a rakish and mysterious artist; her younger sister, pining over an impossible crush; a young Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia, hiding a secret about her family; and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past. In turns funny, charming, and heart-wrenching, this lovingly executed ensemble novel illuminates the true strength of women on the home front in a village of indomitable spirit.