Kate Thompson delivers a moving and beautiful work of WWII historical fiction!
Read This: The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson
Such a beautiful story! Well-written and moving, with fully developed and wonderful characters, this book will stay with me.
Set during WWII, when a bomb destroys a local library, London librarian Clara and her friend/assistant Ruby go to great lengths to keep books in the hands of community members. Deciding to transform an unfinished tube station into an underground library, they end up creating an entire underground haven with beds, a nursery, a cafe, and a theatre. It becomes a place of sanctuary, learning, and support. Then Clara and Ruby take it a step further by adding a traveling library for factory workers. But, as the war drags on, adversities accumulate and threaten everything these extraordinary women have built.
Thompson's brilliantly descriptive writing and the compelling plot kept me hooked and turning the pages late into the night. An emotional and heartbreaking story against the heavier backdrop of WWII, this has themes of resiliency, friendship, romance, hope, and kindness and is a love letter to the power and importance of books/libraries, especially during the most challenging of times. Unforgettable and highly recommended, this is truly a gem of a novel!
Be sure to read the Author's Note and all its fascinating information. I was riveted by that as well!
Thank you to Forever Publishing and author Kate Thompson for the gifted ARC and the opportunity to review this book. I truly enjoyed it!
And Steep Sleeping Dragon green tea from Adagio teas
Synopsis: London, 1944: Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While war ravages the city above her, Clara has risked everything she holds dear to turn the Bethnal Green tube station into the country’s only underground library. Down here, a secret community thrives with thousands of bunk beds, a nursery, a café, and a theater—offering shelter, solace, and escape from the bombs that fall upon their city.
Along with her glamorous best friend and assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war drags on, the women's determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.
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