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WORK TITLE: The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://jenniferryanbooks.com/
CITY: Washington
STATE: DC
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: British
TV rights have been optioned by Carnival, the makers of Downton Abbey.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Kent, England; married.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and editor.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Kent native Jennifer Ryan has built a career as a writer and editor, working first in London then Washington, DC. According to her personal website, Ryan’s decision to create and publish a novel came at the same time she chose to settle down and start a family.
The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir: A Novel is the result of that period of her life. It took half a decade to complete, and is influenced by ample research involving a series of letters written by citizens all throughout Britain, as well as anecdotes from Ryan’s grandmother. The book is set during the Second World War, and stars a group of women residing in Kent. The women in the village have all been left by the men in their lives, who have gone to participate in the war for the good of their country. The women are left with no choice but to wait for their men to return, as well as band together to survive as best they can.
The novel’s story is presented through personal correspondence the women write to various recipients, revealing the events in Kent and their own lives, as well as the women’s inner thoughts and emotions. Every letter is penned by a different author, each with their own concerns and problems. Mrs. Tilling has already lost her husband, and dreads the possibility of losing her son to the atrocities of war; she recalls her memories of previous wars throughout the story, further fleshing out some of her worst fears. In the process, Mrs. Tilling is able to connect with an injured army man whose presence begins to bring her a sense of comfort as the days wear on. Kitty is only 13 years of age and enduring normal teenage problems in addition to the difficulties created by her father’s involvement in the war; she dreams of being swept off her feet in a whirlwind romance and debuting her musical talents to the world. She also struggles to establish her identity throughout the story, doing whatever she can to catch the attention she craves from others. Silvie is the youngest character in the novel, at only 10 years of age. She has arrived in Kent after escaping the horrors plaguing her home country of Czechoslovakia, but is hiding something she dare not talk about. Venetia is the elder sister of Kitty, and is involved in a relationship that quickly escalates in ways she doesn’t anticipate. Edwina is a midwife who becomes embroiled in a family conspiracy after helping one of her clients to give birth.
In an attempt to quell some of their anxieties, the women set up the official, titular Chilbury Ladies’ Choir. The Choir is nearly broken up at first, as it originally was occupied entirely by the men. However, the Choir lets the women to vent their frustrations about the war and their missing men. They soon find that being able to sing truly does help them to make a bit of peace with their situations, letting their day to day lives become not as difficult. Through the choir, the women are not only able to find solace throughout each day, but bond with one another and foster a sense of hope for those in their town. BookPage contributor Karen Ann Cullotta remarked: “With The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, Ryan has crafted a riveting debut novel that is certain to resonate with readers on both sides of the pond.” In an issue of Booklist, Mary Ellen Quinn wrote: “Still, readers who like home-front and small-English-village settings will enjoy this.” John Hogan, a reviewer in British Heritage Travel, commented: “Ryan’s storytelling is somewhat matter-of-fact in the early pages, belying the rousing rewards that come as we get to know these women.” A Publishers Weekly writer said: “Readers may have come across this kind of story before, but the letter/diary format works well and the plot elements satisfyingly come together.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews felt that “the book is well-paced, especially in the second half, and readers may find themselves furiously turning pages even if they can easily predict what’s coming next.” Sarah Johnson, writing on the Historical Novels Review website, stated: “Fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the TV series Home Fires should put this uplifting, absorbing novel high on their reading lists.” A contributor to the Diary of an Eccentric blog wrote: “The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir was a quick and pleasant read, and I found myself wishing there was another installment that showed how these women fared in the latter years of the war.” A reviewer on the BookNAround blog remarked: “Readers who enjoy cozy stories or epistolary novels, those who are attracted to tales of the home front during WWII, and those who want to read touching stories, full of heart, will thrill to this delightful novel.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, January 1, 2017, Mary Ellen Quinn, review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir: A Novel, p. 48.
BookPage, March, 2017, Karen Ann. Cullotta, review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, p. 20.
British Heritage Travel, January-February, 2017, John Hogan, review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, p. 72.
Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2016, review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.
Publishers Weekly, December 5, 2016, review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, p. 46.
ONLINE
BookNAround, http://booknaround.blogspot.com/ (February 23, 2017), review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.
Diary of an Eccentric, https://diaryofaneccentric.wordpress.com/ (March 20, 2017), review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.
Historical Novel Society, https://historicalnovelsociety.org/ (November 8, 2017), Sarah Johnson, review of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.
Jennifer Ryan Website, http://jenniferryanbooks.com (November 8, 2017), author profile.
Born in a village in Kent, just south of London in the UK, my childhood was one of gallivanting around the countryside, often on bikes, climbing trees, cobbling dams over trickling streams, launching attacks on neighborhood factions, and eating cheese and tomato rolls in red telephone boxes to shelter from the rain. It is these memories, the pale English sunshine, the scent of lavender, honeysuckle, rose mingling with freshly cut grass, the sound of birds and bees and balls on tennis courts, that fill in the background of my stories, forming a full setting of a living, moving world.
After school and college, I worked as an editor for nonfiction books in London, and as my editing and writing became stronger, I began to thread my way into writing fiction. But it was once I had married and moved to Washington, DC, that I began to write voraciously, and when I took time off work to have children, I found the space and time to write my first novel, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir. It took five years of hearty researching, writing, and reworking, and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I loved creating it.
The novel was is published by Crown Publishing in the US and HarperCollins UK, and by publishers in 12 different countries around the world. The TV rights have been optioned by Carnival, the makers of Downton Abbey.
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
Karen Ann Cullotta
BookPage.
(Mar. 2017): p20.
COPYRIGHT 2017 BookPage
http://bookpage.com/
Full Text:
THE CHILBURY LADIES' CHOIR
By Jennifer Ryan
Crown
$26, 384 pages
ISBN 9781101906750
Audio, eBook available
DEBUT FICTION
Despite its pastoral title, Jennifer Ryan's compelling and exquisitely wrought World War II-era novel is far removed
from the stereotypical cozy British village story. Rooted in the bucolic countryside of Kent, the novel is told in a series
of letters and journal entries penned by an eclectic cast of characters, all of whom are members of their village's first
ladies' choir--a musical distinction born of necessity rather than choice.
Indeed, with the village's sons, brothers, husbands and lovers heading off to join the war effort, Chilbury is virtually
absent of men. For the women they have left behind, the emotional burdens to be borne include the lonely widow Mrs.
Tilling's fears for the safety of her only son; village beauty Venetia Winthrop's illicit romance with an enigmatic artist;
intrepid musical prodigy Kitty's ill-fated attempts to gain attention; and the haunted Jewish refugee Silvie's harboring of
a family secret.
While the poignant narratives that unfold in each letter and journal entry are imbued with the struggles of a town reeling
from the ravages of yet another war, the bleakness is tempered by romance, mystery and even crime--in particular, a
daring act of deception performed by Miss Edwina Paltry, a conniving member of the Winthrops' household staff.
Readers will be delighted to hear that the television rights to this splendid novel have already been optioned by Carnival
TV--the production company behind "Downton Abbey." With The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, Ryan has crafted a riveting
debut novel that is certain to resonate with readers on both sides of the pond.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
10/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1508712728711 2/7
Cullotta, Karen Ann. "The Chilbury Ladies' Choir." BookPage, Mar. 2017, p. 20. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA483701841&it=r&asid=f6370d7ca0abda054736875f694cd432.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
Mary Ellen Quinn
Booklist.
113.9-10 (Jan. 1, 2017): p48.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir. By Jennifer Ryan. Feb. 2017. 384p. Crown, $26 (9781101906750).
Among the many changes that WWII brings to the little English village of Chilbury is the demise of the church choir,
since all of the men are away. The women are still at home, though, and form the Chilbury Ladies' Choir. Ryan
structures her novel in the form of letters and diary entries written by several members of the choir: nice, widowed Mrs.
Tilling; waspish and scheming midwife Edwina Paltry; posh Venetia Winthrop, who becomes entangled with an artist
who may or may not be a spy; and Venetia's 13-year-old sister, Kitty, who is trying to navigate her way through
adolescence and first love. Working with multiple perspectives can be tricky, but Ryan generally does a convincing job
of differentiating the women's voices as they offer their perspectives on various characters and plot threads that include
black marketeering, espionage, baby swapping, sexual orientation, unplanned pregnancy, air raids, a Jewish refugee,
romance, and more--with so much going on that the choir story line gets lost. Still, readers who like home-front and
small-English-village settings will enjoy this. Definitely hand it to fans of the PBS series Home Fires.--Mary Ellen
Quinn
Quinn, Mary Ellen
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Quinn, Mary Ellen. "The Chilbury Ladies' Choir." Booklist, 1 Jan. 2017, p. 48. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA479078000&it=r&asid=02e3955b668645e774cd261a5d224d59.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A479078000
10/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir: A Novel
John Hogan
British Heritage Travel.
38.1 (January-February 2017): p72.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kliger Heritage Group, LLC
https://britishheritage.com/
Full Text:
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir: A Novel
by Jennifer (Crown)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Sisterhood, in all its meanings, abounds in The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, Jennifer Ryan's debut novel of life, love and
beautiful music in war-torn 1940s England. Inspired both by her grandmother's tales of World War II England and the
national Mass Observation project that recorded the thoughts of real Britons from its inception in 1937, Ryan balances
joyful harmonies amid a bloody backdrop of war and survival. After men both young and old leave the Kentish village
of Chilbury to fight, the vicar plans to shut down the choir--until music professor Primrose Trent emboldens the town's
women to come together and sing. "I found my voice becoming louder, in defiance of this war," notes Mrs. Tilling, one
of the five narrators we meet in the book, each revealed to us, in epistolary fashion, through letters and journals. The
others include 13-year-old Kitty Winthrop; her beautiful 18-year-old sister, Venetia; town midwife Edwina Paltry;
Silvie, a young Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia; and Mrs. Tilling, whose world- and war-weary journal entries
propel the story forward while providing the keenest (and most frightening) observations. Ryan's storytelling is
somewhat matter-of-fact in the early pages, belying the rousing rewards that come as we get to know these women. The
TV rights to the book have already been sold to the same production company that brought us Downton Abbey, so
expect these ladies to keep making their voices heard for quite some time.
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir: goes on sale February 14.
Hogan, John
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Hogan, John. "The Chilbury Ladies' Choir: A Novel." British Heritage Travel, Jan.-Feb. 2017, p. 72. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476728544&it=r&asid=8e9eb9b2a17fd1e2e4144b52c6007937.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
10/22/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Gale Document Number: GALE|A476728544
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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
Publishers Weekly.
263.50 (Dec. 5, 2016): p46.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
Jennifer Ryan. Crown, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-1101-90675-0
In 1940, at a time when women's roles were still firmly rooted in home and hearth, the ladies of Chilbury, England, find
themselves at the bleeding edge of progress as the ramifications of World War II begin to infiltrate their little town. The
men of Chilbury head to battlefields, and the village choir becomes the first casualty of the war. When a female
professor of music insists the choir can be reassembled as a ladies' choir, the small community is at first scandalized by
such an idea. But this is soon lost to other more salacious events. There is the brigadier who hires an unscrupulous
midwife to swap his baby girl for a boy, and his teenage daughter seduces a handsome artist who's come to town under
mysterious circumstances. An upstanding single woman (a widow whose only son has gone to fight) is tapped to take a
colonel into her home, and a 10-year-old Czech evacuee finds out what happened to her family. As the war advances on
Chilbury, even more lives are changed when a German bomb kills a young mother as well as the choir mistress, young
men are sent off to war, and spies and black market profiteers lurk in the quiet lanes. Told in the form of diaries and
letters in the voices of the female characters, Ryan's novel, reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie
Society, captures the experience of the war from a woman's perspective. Readers may have come across this kind of
story before, but the letter/diary format works well and the plot elements satisfyingly come together. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Chilbury Ladies' Choir." Publishers Weekly, 5 Dec. 2016, p. 46. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475224833&it=r&asid=a5774a565cea4f630f8b804cf75302c2.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475224833
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Ryan, Jennifer: THE CHILBURY LADIES'
CHOIR
Kirkus Reviews.
(Dec. 1, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Ryan, Jennifer THE CHILBURY LADIES' CHOIR Crown (Adult Fiction) $26.00 2, 14 ISBN: 978-1-101-90675-0
While their men are off fighting the Nazis, the women in the English village of Chilbury struggle to carry on.Though
the action spans only a few months in 1940, a lot happens: there are bombings, a nefarious baby-swapping scheme,
passionate love affairs, acts of espionage and of great valor. The Chilbury women, it seems, are always being tested.
What binds them together and lifts their spirits is their participation in the local church choir, transformed with the
advent of war from a coed chorus to an all-female one. The story is told through the women's letters and journal entries,
which can make for some clumsy exposition. Key figures include the sensible widow and nurse Mrs. Tilling, the
scheming midwife Miss Paltry, Kitty Winthrop, a plucky, headstrong 13-year-old, and her older sister, Venetia, the town
beauty and a heedless flirt until she falls hard for a secretive artist. All are borderline stock characters, and little that
happens in the book is unexpected--though the brutality of Brig. Winthrop, Kitty and Venetia's father, does come as a bit
of a shock. The author also tends to tell rather than show: asked if she thinks that singing will help the women get
through the war, the choir director answers, "Music takes us out of ourselves, away from our worries and tragedies....All
those cadences and beautiful chord changes, every one of them makes you feel a different splendor of life." Real
tragedy visits the town, but it doesn't fully register. And subplots involving homosexuality and abortion seem designed
to make a period piece feel more contemporary. Still, the book is well-paced, especially in the second half, and readers
may find themselves furiously turning pages even if they can easily predict what's coming next. Mildly entertaining,
Ryan's debut novel seems overfamiliar and too intent on warming the heart.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Ryan, Jennifer: THE CHILBURY LADIES' CHOIR." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2016. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471901933&it=r&asid=e44abb3c67235003a8a82a87a044b9a7.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A471901933
“There’s something bolstering about singing together.” Jennifer Ryan’s charming debut interweaves many women’s voices to create a strong chorus that rings out with heart and the celebration of life. The story spans barely five months in 1940, but it’s an eventful time for Chilbury, a small Kentish village seven miles from England’s coast. With most men off at war, the vicar disbands the choir, but as with so many other home front duties, Chilbury’s women take up the reins. Their female-only singing ensemble, daring for its time, is successful in more ways than one.
Their stories are told through their writings, and each woman’s account echoes her personality. There’s Mrs. Tilling, a timid widow and nurse worried about her only son in France; Venetia Winthrop of Chilbury Manor, a sophisticated flirt; Kitty, her attention-hungry younger sister; and Edwina Paltry, a conniving midwife. Kitty’s diary entries are fun, since they burst with enthusiasm and teenage melodrama as she dreams about her sister’s longtime suitor and reacts to her changing world. In letters to her London-based friend, Venetia reveals how her affair with a mysterious artist turns into something more, to her astonishment. Mrs. Tilling’s growing courage to stand up for herself and others will have readers cheering, as will her growing closeness to the burly colonel billeted with her. Edwina’s involvement in a greedy baby-swapping scheme gets soap-opera silly, but her audaciousness never fails to entertain. The fifth and softest voice is that of Sylvie, a Czech Jewish evacuee.
As the village intrigues play out and the Nazi threat reaches England, shattering buildings and lives, shadowy men skulk about in the woods, and the women draw strength from their togetherness. Fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the TV series Home Fires should put this uplifting, absorbing novel high on their reading lists.
Everything was black in the moonless night, the blackout rules forcing all the light out of the world. But with a cautious smile, I realized that there are no laws against singing, and I found my voice becoming louder, in defiance of this war.
In defiance of my right to be heard.
(from The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir)
The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir is an impressive World War II homefront novel set in 1940 in the village of Chilbury in Kent, England. Jennifer Ryan tells the story in journal entries and letters from the points of view of Mrs. Margaret Tilling, a woman left alone with her thoughts after her only son goes off to war; Miss Edwina Paltry, the village midwife who takes on shady jobs for the right price as a means of atoning for her past mistakes; Kitty Winthrop, the 13-year-old daughter of the menacing Brigadier who longs to be a singer and is waiting for the dashing RAF pilot Henry to marry her someday; Venetia Winthrop, Kitty’s older sister who uses her beauty to her advantage and sets her sights on a mysterious artist; and Sylvie, a 10-year-old Jewish refugee living with the Winthrops who holds tightly to a secret.
The novel opens with a funeral and a note from the vicar indicating that the village choir will be disbanded now that all the male members have gone to war. However, under the guidance of the new choirmistress, Prim, the women of the village form the Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, using their voices to both lift up and comfort each other and their fellow villagers during the chaos of war. The women of the choir forge new friendships, uncover secrets, fall in and out of love, and find strength in themselves and each other as the war begins to take its toll.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, but I was immediately intrigued by these women and the life of the village. Some of the women were resistant to the changes brought about by the war, while others viewed the absence of the men as an opportunity to take charge, see the needs that must be fulfilled, and move forward. Where the novel shines is in Ryan’s ability to give each of the women a distinct voice and show their evolution within their diaries and letters. Although some of the plot lines may have been a bit overly dramatic or far-fetched, Ryan made them work, and I was swept up in the gossip and the rivalries of the inhabitants of Chilbury.
I really enjoyed The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, especially for Ryan’s skill in painting a portrait of a society in flux. Even when the bombs begin to fall and the losses begin to pile up, the narrative never gets too heavy and is never devoid of hope. I couldn’t help but love these women and root for them despite their flaws and misguided actions. The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir was a quick and pleasant read, and I found myself wishing there was another installment that showed how these women fared in the latter years of the war.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to participate in the tour for The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir. Click here to follow the tour.
It seems odd to say that a book set during WWII, one that addresses death, bombings, child refugees, and so forth is lovely but Jennifer Ryan's The Chilbury Ladies' Choir is just that. Lovely. It doesn't shirk the sorrows and the tragedies that happen in wartime but it does so in a way that celebrates indomitable spirit and the way that life continues despite the raging war.
Chilbury is a small English village not far from the coast. Almost all of the men have left the village to fight, leaving behind a village of women and children. When the local vicar disbands the church choir effective immediately after the funeral of the Winthrop's only heir due to the absence of male voices, the women of the village push back. Prim, the new music tutor, transforms the choir into a ladies' choir and the women of the village come together, outside of the usual gossip, rivalries, and other concerns large and small, through the music they sing. They draw together as a caring community, being comforted in their uncertain everyday lives and when faced with the terrors that war inflicts on them, through the beautiful harmonies and the powerful feelings that they stir.
The village and the people in it are not without their intrigues, scheming, and drama and the novel captures these charmingly through letters and diaries. There is an ensemble cast of characters, just as the women form an ensemble choir, who tell the majority of the story. Kitty Winthrop is thirteen going on fourteen, and she chronicles life as a girl on the cusp of young womanhood. She is observant and notices more than many but she is also blinded by a naive lack of understanding in the ways of the human heart, confiding in her diary what her family life is like, her adoration of one of the village sons, and the goings on of those around her. Venetia Winthrop, Kitty's older sister and a flirtatious young woman fully cognizant of her own power, writes letters to an old friend who has moved to London to work for the war effort. At least to start, Venetia is selfish and concerned with bending circumstances to her will, including making the enigmatic artist who has moved into their midst and claims to be exempt from the war by virtue of flat feet fall in love with her. Mrs. Tilling is the local nurse and a timid widow whose only son is leaving for the war, leaving her alone so that she must learn to fend for herself. Her journal entries are those of a frightened mother who must find a way to banish the fear and uncertainty, recognize her own inherent strength, and step up in whatever way the war will require. Edwina Paltry is the village midwife whose methods bring her into opposition with Mrs. Tilling's medical training. Edwina is a fairly unscrupulous opportunist and her letters to her sister detailing her schemes and filled with disdain for those around her are entertaining. These four women's writings tell the bulk of the story although an occasional piece from another character sneaks into the narrative as well.
The novel has a quiet dignity to it. It shows the women (and remaining men) as they face the war with determination even as their smaller, but no less personally important, domestic dramas continue to pull at them. The large cast of characters is people with characters who are all vibrant and alive, some good, some bad, and some still growing. The various plot threads and the four main narrators are all evenly balanced so that the reader is happy no matter which letter, or diary she is reading at any given time. And the novel has everything: love and death, heartbreak and friendship, community, service, and rivalries. Taking place over a mere 6 months in 1940, the story is a touching encapsulation of the daily life, the sacrifices, and the character, courage, and mettle of the country in a time of great strife and danger and fear. Readers who enjoy cozy stories or epistolary novels, those who are attracted to tales of the home front during WWII, and those who want to read touching stories, full of heart, will thrill to this delightful novel.