In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job. She and her beloved daughter Olivia have always managed just fine on their own, but with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her with a job.
When the threat of war in England becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In the wake of being separated from her daughter, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, and a renewed sense of purpose through the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing and the work at the lending library forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.
As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.
I found Emma to be a character who has a little too much tragedy and focuses on it quite a bit. She has a daughter who needs her mother, and yet she never seems to forget her late family’s bookstore. It takes way to long for her to accept the pain and move on. That said, Emma is a nice person, if sad, and I like how she eventually starts cultivating friends. I also like the relationships she builds.
The lending library is awesome. I like the Subscriber A and Subscriber B. I think I would be a Subscriber A. But I also like that the author mentions classic and well known novels but doesn’t spoil them. The way Emma goes about helping everyone find their “story” is exactly why I wanted to be a librarian, too.
There is a romance but it's more of a subplot. It doesn’t take front and center. This is a novel about surviving. Surviving loss, pain, financial issues, and war.
Overall, I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.
Comments
Post a Comment