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Reviewed by Jennifer Senick for Readers' Favorite
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” In Sincerely, Mildred by Ashley Rea, Mildred is a dreamer. So much so that the 19-year-old sometimes gets into trouble with her wandering mind at the cannery job where she works to help her family. She lives with her father, stepmother, and stepsister in a small Pacific Northwest town during the early 1930s. After losing her mother years earlier, she often feels invisible in a house that doesn’t feel like her own anymore. Everything changes when she becomes curious about a Seattle pilot named Marty Townsend and starts writing him sincere, heartfelt letters. When they finally meet, their connection grows in ways neither expected. But life doesn’t make things easy. Friendships shift, her confidence is tested with Marty’s family, and traumatic moments stir up pressure around them. As the story unfolds, Marty finds himself torn between the life he knows and the girl who sees him for who he really is…and the question becomes whether he’ll choose her or someone else.
This has been one of my favorite books to review. Sincerely, Mildred by Ashley Rea pulled me in from the start, mainly because I love books set during this era. The writing made me experience so many emotions. Reading how much Mildred missed her mother and longed for the father she once knew brought a real wave of sadness. I was also relieved when I read of her interest in Marty and his interest in return. I truly connected with Mildred when this occurred: “Her palm tingled at the memory of feeling Marty’s hand when he helped her up when they first met.” I also appreciated how friendships developed and shifted, especially as Mildred learned whom she could trust. The pacing is steady, moving from tender moments to more intense turns while still letting me breathe with the characters. Overall, this is the kind of book that made me want to linger with it just a little longer.
