The Chilbury Ladies Choir: A Heartwarming Tale of Music and Community in WWII England

K. L. Daily: I absolutely loved this book! It reminds me of the power of good friends and community!

United States on Sep 05, 2023

Buyer: Great purchase bought as Used like New. It was wrapped as described in shrink wrap, book is in excellent condition. Arrived quickly.

United States on Aug 14, 2023

Mary: A wonderful story., great to share.

Australia on Feb 15, 2023

Athena53: This book is set in the summer of 1940 as the ‘phoney war’ gives way to the Battle of Britain and husbands, sons and lovers are sent away, some never to return. The unique thing about this story is that it is told through a series of diary entries and letters sent by some of the characters.
A newcomer to Chilbury village decides to resurrect the choir which was closed down by the vicar as the men left to fight. This becomes a force for good and the choir actually enters and wins a competition.
The different personalities all have their own troubles and as the story develops and the war progresses we see apparently timid women become strong and bad ones forced to confront their weaknesses. The few men left in the village also go through their own trials and transformations.
The author has done her research thoroughly and has used her own family’s experiences and memories to create the story, but I did feel at times that the language used by some characters was a little modern – eg the ‘good guys’ and saying someone was ‘pregnant’ rather than a euphemism such as ‘expecting’ or ‘in the family way’. I am quite sure both my grandmothers and my mother...

United Kingdom on Mar 25, 2021

Laurel Ann: Set in an English country village at the onset of WWII, The Chilbury Ladies Choir is told through letters and journal and diary entries by four female characters who are faced with keeping the home fires burning while their menfolk are off fighting Nazis. The first-person format intrigued me, and the subject sounded promising. However, it was the anticipation of escaping into the lives of “three or four families in a country village” that really hooked me. If English-born author Jennifer Ryan could dish out endearing and foibled characters I was in for a great read.

Ominously, the novel begins with the funeral of Commander Edmund Winthrop, the first casualty of the war from this tight-knit community. The reality of his death hits the remaining residents hard, coupled with the fact that the vicar decided to close the church choir due to the lack of male voices. The ladies rebel. They are done with being told what to do by the few men remaining. Disobeying the vicar, they form the Chilbury Ladies Choir led by Miss Primrose Trent, a music tutor from the local university.

“First, they whisk our men away to fight, then they force us women into work, then they ration...

United States on Oct 11, 2019

Murrow Mulberry.: When i began reading this book i found it a little slow and not a book to grab my attention, however i am pleased that i persevered with it. Given the title it would have been nice to have had a bit more of the storyline centred on the ladies choir as they were not really mentioned a lot. Also i think the book wlud have been more of a whole and flowed easier if it had been written in story format rather than letters, journals and diaries. All in all though it is well worth a read and a good story showing that during war time, and other times too that people can always show their strength of spirit and courage and can work together for the good of everyone.

United Kingdom on Jul 24, 2019

Zmizmi: Ich habe das Buch zunächst auf Englisch gelesen und dann nochmal die deutsche Variante als Buch und Hörbuch verschenkt.
Die Geschichte ist in einem etwas ungewöhnlichen Stil in Form von Briefen und Tagebucheinträgen mehrerer Charaktere erzählt. Es liest sich aber trotzdem flüssig und die verschiedenen Blickwinkel auf die Ereignisse sind durchaus reizvoll. Es ist eine Geschichte über normale Menschen, deren Leben durch den Krieg aus der Bahn geworfen werden. Was da passiert ist keineswegs immer vorher zu sehen und auch wenn das Ende relativ versöhnlich ist, bleibt doch auf der letzten Seite die Gewissheit zurück, dass der Krieg noch nicht vorbei ist.
Ein kleiner Tipp: Die deutsche Variante des Hörbuchs (Argon-Verlag) ist auch wirklich zu empfehlen! Die verschiedenen Charaktere werden von bekannten Sprecherinnen gesprochen und an einigen Stellen ist der Frauenchor von Chilburry tatsächlich zu hören, vertreten durch das Frauenensemble Encantada (wer durch das Buch Lust auf mehr Frauenchor-Musik bekommt, sollte da auch mal auf der Website vorbeischauen, es lohnt!).
Zusammenfassend: Sowohl auf Englisch als auch in der deutschen Übersetzung klare Kaufempfehlung...

Germany on Mar 03, 2018

Judi Easley for a thoughtful reveal: The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir

By Jennifer Ryan

418 pages, ebook, hardcover, paperback, audiobook, audio CD

Broadway Books, Random House, LLC,

February 2017

Historical fiction, Women’s lit

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book also has a second cover, which is absolutely lovely.

This book is written in the form called epistolary. Written with notices, letters, journal entries and notes by the women of the ladies’ choir.

Epistolary novel – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic “documents” such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use.

Using this format created an interesting insight into the story. It allowed the author to move the story along simply by changing to another journal or letter. Let the next person tell the story from their viewpoint, reveal their secrets, see things from their side of the village square.

I was sold on the beautiful cover that I saw...

United States on Jan 11, 2018

Vicuña: This type of story isn't my usual genre, but it's good to read something different from time to time and this book is a true delight; an amazing debut.

It's set in England in 1940. The men from the Kent village have, in the main, gone off to war leaving the village without a choir. Enter 'Miss Prim', who to the vicar's horror, decides to set up the choir of the title. That's just the central theme that draws together a rich tapestry of characters. There's a duplicitous midwife, keen to make her fortune, a Brigadier with two daughters; he desperately needs his pregnant wife to have a son. There are infidelities, blackmail, spying and much tittle tattle and social gossiping.

It's filled with humorous observation which draws on foibles and human frailty and there are also some poignant moments. The narrative is letters and diary entries from the main characters and this keeps the story moving. It's occasionally a little heavy on similes, and almost naive sometimes. But behind that, Jennifer Ryan has largely captured a particular time and setting and the people portrayed feel right. They all have a place and know their place in the village pecking order. I found them...

United Kingdom on Feb 23, 2017