The postmistress - Sarah Blake

The Sunday Times bestseller The Postmistress by Sarah Blake is a heart-rending and profoundly moving story of love and loss in World War II.

It is 1940, and bombs fall nightly on London.

In the thick of the chaos is young American radio reporter Frankie Bard. She huddles close to terrified strangers in underground shelters, and later broadcasts stories about survivors in rubble-strewn streets. But for her listeners, the war is far from home.

Listening to Frankie are Iris James, a Cape Cod postmistress, and Emma Fitch, a doctor's wife. Iris hears the winds stirring and knows that soon the letters she delivers will bear messages of hope or tragedy. Emma is desperate for news of London, where her husband is working - she counts the days until his return.

But one night in London the fates of all three women entwine when Frankie finds a letter - a letter she vows to deliver . . .

Penguin by Hand is a collection comprising six of Penguin's most popular women's fiction titles of recent years, all with new and beautiful craft-inspired jackets.