About:
The Marriage Bureau: The True Story of How Two Matchmakers Arranged Love in Wartime London by Penrose Halson is a non-fiction book by the current owner of the business. Mrs. Halson, a teacher, writer and editor bought the Bureau with her husband Bill.
My rating for The Marriage Bureau — 4
Buy The Marriage Bureau from Amazon.com*
Buy from HarperCollins
More Books by Penrose Halson
Thoughts:
The Marriage Bureau: The True Story of How Two Matchmakers Arranged Love in Wartime London by Penrose Halson is an entertaining book, easy to read and charming. The book consists of a short history of Audrey Parsons and Heather who started the first matchmaking service in war time England (the Second World War), the hardships they endured from skeptics and the eventual success they found.
A reminder: Internet dating did not exist during World War II.
Audrey and Heather were perfect partners, the former was a romantic dreamer, the latter, a savvy business woman, practical and logical. At a time when class and lineage mattered much, matchmaking was a combination of art and science, needing a careful ear, sensible attitude and a certain toughness which has to be earned.
Much of the book tells the stories of the customers of the Marriage Bureau, lost people looking for love, or just someone to share their lives with. The Marriage Bureau soon became a favorite of newspapers looking for happy stories to tell during a time of despair. The free publicity, along with war time tragedies, helped the Bureau to become successful and prosper while helping multitudes of people find happiness, or at least a compatible person to witness your life.
This is a lovely book, not too serious and fun to read.
Buy The Marriage Bureau from Amazon.com*
Buy from HarperCollins
More Books by Penrose Halson
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free from TLC Book Tours
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account
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The idea of going to a match-maker seems so foreign to me, although that is really what many of today's dating websites are. The whole concept is fascinating to me!
Thanks for being a part of the tour.