Book Description
An uplifting and inspiring novel based on the true story of a librarian who created an underground shelter during World War II, perfect for readers of The Paris Library or The Last Bookshop in London.
London, 1944.
Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While the world remains at war, in East London, Clara has created the country's only underground library, built over the railway tracks in the disused Bethnal Green tube station. Down here, a whole community thrives: with hundreds of bunk beds, a café and a theatre offering shelter from the bombs that fall above.
Along with her glamorous best friend and assistant librarian, 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 seems it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.
Based on true events, The Little Wartime Library is an inspiring and heart-wrenching story of life on the home front, and of the strength of courage required to fight for what you believe in.
Book Review
Review for 'The Little Wartime Library' by Kate Thompson.
Publication date 17th February 2022.
This novel consists of a prologue, 28 chapters and an epilogue. The paperback version also contains author's notes, The true story of Bethnal Green library and the fight to save it Kate's journey to document Britain's life in libraries, information on 'read For Victory' and a bibliography at the end. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
'The Little Wartime Library' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Kate discusses/includes persecution, abuse, death, cruelty and other events associated with the war along with rape and domestic violence.
Well, what can I say but wow!!! This story is definitely not going to leave my head anytime soon. Firstly I must congratulate Kate Thompson for an extraordinary novel that seriously needs to be made into a movie which I assure would be best selling!!!
This book is very powerful and extremely well written. It is devastatingly heart-breaking and beautiful at the same time. The storyline of this book is fiction but the actual historical events are all based on facts and history which is another thing that drew me to read it. It is absolutely rammed with emotions that will make you smile, cry and laugh on the roller-coaster ride to hell that is World War 2 and the Blitz along with persecution and murder of the Jews and many others. Nothing is left out and Kate has done an immense amount of research and brings Clara and Ruby's stories to life along with the Little Wartime Library. Clara and Ruby's library story is based on that of the borough librarian George F. Vale and his deputy Stanley Smith who actually did set up and run the little wartime library on Bethnal Green Underground. Kate used her creativity to bring George and Stanley back to life through Clara and Ruby. I must admit that this book really has got to be one of, if not the, best historical book I have ever read!! As a bibliophile myself to find a book that is based on and in libraries and books really is a readers dream!! I was absolutely fascinated with not just the storyline itself which I found to be unique but also all the historical facts and information included both in the storyline and in the back of the book where Kate gives the reader further information, photos and details on where she found her information. The fact that she made the main protagonists female living during the war and in a time where, although women were doing the same roles that men would have done they were still not seen as being able to do a males role to the same standard and the discrimination and prejudice that Clara and Ruby receive, especially from a certain horrid Mr Pinkerton-Smythe is absolutely disgraceful but true to those times. I loved going back in time from 2023 , shortly to 2020 (thankfully) and then to 1944 and back again. The prologue and epilogue are both set during 2020 when the COVID pandemic kept us in lockdown and destroyed many lives and the parallels between how people would lose themselves in the fictional world of books during lockdown and also during the war are fascinating.
I absolutely loved the amazing idea that Kate had to start each chapter of her book with a quote from a real librarian which I found all to be very true but the ones that stood out the most to me just have to be 'If you have a book you have a friend. As an only child, reading gave me a friend ALL the time' quoted from Andrea Homer, former Saturday Girl At Cradley Library in Halesowen, ' That moment, where something clicks, and you know you've made a reader of a child. Pure magic' quoted from Donna Byrne, Reader Developmental Librarian for Havering Libraries (as a mum of three boys myself I can definitely relate to this one and absolutely love in when I see my eldest son lost in the magic of a book), I adored the story from Anne Cunningham who was told it was pointless her being given the job as library assistant as she would only leave to go off and have babies to then end up with her interviewers job years later, 'There's no such thing as a child who doesn't like reading, just a child who hasn't found the right book' quoted from Nicola 'Ninja Librarian' Pollard who is a school librarian in Harrogate (my partner who rarely reads actually agreed with this one and, again, as parents we both found this to be very true' and the final ones, which I am tempted to have tattooed to me next to my other book tattoos are 'Want to see the world? Don't join the army, become a librarian' from Denise Bangs, Idea Store Libraries in London and my final favourite and one I definitely agree with was spoken by the Mayor of St Pancras, London and is ' People Without books are like houses without windows'!!
I also received a book group kit with my book which I also found fascinating as it included information and photos of the areas mentioned in Kate's book as well as many other fascinating facts and things to do. My heart broke but at the same time soared at the end of this beautiful story filled with romance, passion, war, love, horror, suspense, tension, books, determination and just absolutely everything you could ask for in an emotional rollercoaster page turning historical novel. I cannot wait to read Kate's next guaranteed success and at the back of her book she mentions that after talking to Jackie Stanfield who is a librarian at HMP Hyde bank Women's Prison in Belfast she found talking to her so fascinating it made her want to set a book in a women's prison library and I really, really hope that she goes ahead with this as I for one would love to read that!!
Grab the tissues, clear your schedules and get lost in history with an extremely talented author and a beautiful heart-breaking and educational read!!
I wont go into too much detail about the characters as I will leave them for you to discover, plus I have already written way more than I was planning to but there is just so much I could say about how absolutely amazing this book is that i really could carry on for hours! Each of the characters in the book came completely to life thanks to Kate's amazing evocative writing skills and several of them were based on people who lived during this time, their experiences and lives and a mix of their personalities and although I could not stand several of them such as Mr Pinkerton Smyth, Victor, Clara's joke of a mother and mother in law, there were characters that were absolutely amazing and unforgettable that apart from our main hero's Clara and Ruby, the Bethnal Green Bookworms such as Pat, Queenie, Irene and Dot, charming and aging Mr Pepper, ruthless but with a heart of gold Mrs Chumbley, handsome, brave and sweet Billy and GI Eddie, Ruby's poor mother Netty, the absolutely lovable and naughty Tube Rats including Sparrow, Tubby, Beatty and Marie along with the fantastic Minister Rupert Montague (especially after putting Pinkerton in his place!) and last but definitely not least the Library Cat!!!! These amazing characters made me angry, joyful, sad, blissful, hopeful and so, so much more in between!!! They most definitely wont be forgotten by me anytime soon!! Kate does an amazing job building her each of these truly amazing characters and her fantastic evocative writing skills brings each and every one of them to life. Thanks to Kate this amazing group of people who supported and lifted each other up during these dark times and helping them see the light will never be forgotten. Regardless of whether you love or hate the characters one thing is certain and that is that Kate has the talent to bring them out of the pages so you feel you are surrounded by them as you walk along next to them all in this beautiful book.
Again congratulations Kate Thompson on all your research and for writing this amazing story of the little wartime library. I love the fact that your wonderful stories brings so much information about Bethnal Green, the tragic accident that happened there and the Stairway to Heaven Memorial, the war and the characters that made a difference. They all deserve to have their stories told in a way that did them justice and you have done that. I cannot wait to get stuck into more of your amazing books and welcome to my top 3 favourite historical authors list!!!
Overall an unforgettable, unputdownable, absolutely beautifully devastating story from an amazingly talented author. This book is an absolute must read for anyone and everyone!!
490 pages.
This book is just £4.49 to purchase on kindle and £7.25 in paperback at time of review via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
Kate Thompson was born in London and worked as a journalist for twenty years on women's magazines and national newspapers. She now lives in Sunbury with her husband, two sons and two rescue dogs. After ghost writing five memoirs, Kate moved into fiction. Kate's first non-fiction social history documenting the forgotten histories of East End matriarchy, The Stepney Doorstep Society, was published in 2018 by Penguin. She is passionate about capturing lost voices and untold social histories.
Today Kate works as a journalist, author and library campaigner. Her most recent books, The Little Wartime Library (2022) and The Wartime Book Club (2023) by Hodder & Stoughton focus on two remarkable libraries in wartime. Her 100 libraries project, celebrates the richness and complexity of librarians work and the vital role of libraries in our communities.
Social Media Links
Podcast host - From the Library With Love. Interviews with librarians, best-sellling authors and our remarkable wartime generation: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/100-year-old-bletchley-park-codebreaker-charlotte-betty/id1705546837?i=1000628149147
Instagram @Katethompson author https://www.instagram.com/katethompsonauthor/?hl=en-gb
Twitter @katethompson380 https://twitter.com/katethompson380
Website: www.katethompsonmedia.co.uk
Purchase Links
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/0tQChaI
Amazon US: https://a.co/d/6S3Jmyk