The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson

 

In 1942, Bethnal Green library in London was destroyed by a German bomb. The head librarian is killed and so children's librarian Clara Button starts a library in the tunnels of the nearby Tube station which is being used as a refuge from the nightly bombing raids for thousands of locals. Ably assisted by her best friend Ruby Munros, the library provides many valuable services to the community. They provide books to the local factory girls, they do children's story time, start a book club for the many women who otherwise wouldn't have any personal time and so much more. 

Both Clara and Ruby have strong back stories. Clara is a widow whose mother and mother in law both dislike that she is working in the library. They both believe that she should be at home grieving her husband even though he has been dead for quite some time.  Ruby has also suffered significant loss. She lost her older sister in a terrible tragedy and she blames herself. To numb the pain she drinks a lot, and parties hard, masking how much she is hurting underneath her brash exterior.. 

Clara clashes against her boss, the grandly named Mr Pinkerton-Smythe, who seems to think that libraries should only be available to the well to do, that only literature with a capital L should be available to readers. What libraries should absolutely not do is provide women with information or books that encourage them to take their own lives into their hands and decide things like they don't want any more children or that they don't have to stay in violent marriages. He does everything in his power to close Clara's version of the library down.

I loved the part of the book where the library is donated multiple copies of Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor. It is a book that I have read a couple of times back in my late teens initially and it is an absolute romp.  Amber is resourceful and ambitious, will do what it takes to get what she wants. What a woman! I am tempted to find it and read it again. I am pretty sure I still have a copy on my shelves somewhere.

I love a good WWII historical fiction novel, and this is undoubtedly one of the better ones out there. What makes it even more interesting is that it is based on little known true life events. There really was a library in the rail tunnels under Bethnal Green station. Unfortunately, the terrible tragedy which shaped Ruby's life so much is also based on a tragic, real life event. 

I really enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter which come from real life librarians, including contemporary librarians. From the authors notes, it is clear that she is passionate about libraries and has been involved in some battles to save local libraries when the politicians decide to cut back services.

Having now read this book and The Wartime Book Club I can now declare myself a Kate Thompson fan. While she keeps writing about libraries I will keep reading the book. I am now on the waitlist for her latest book from my library!

This was a 5/5 read for me and I highly recommend it.

I am sharing this review with British Isles Friday hosted at Joy's Book Blog, Bookish Books Challenge hosted at Bloggin' Bout Books and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host here.