The Book Lovers Library by Madeline Martin - 2024 - 396 Pages

 

The Book Lovers Library by Madeline Martin - 2024 - 396 Pages

The Book Lovers Library is the fourth novel  by Madeline Martin upon which I have posted.  

In December of 2021 I read The Last Bookstore in London by Madeline Martin, set in London during the Blitz years of World War Two. I loved this deeply moving vivid account of the impact of Germany's bombing of London on a small Bookstore.

Last year I read her The Libraian Spy set during World War Two in Paris as well as Lyon and Lisbon. Paris is occupied by the Germans. Portugal is neutral but in danger of being invaded. People come from all over Europe to Lisbon hoping to get a visa to go to America.

Last Month I read her The Keeper of Hidden Books, set, mostly in Warsaw during it occupation during World War Two by the Germans, centered on a library.

The Book Lovera! Library takes place in England during World War Two.  The library is a subscription based business.  I liked this book so much,  was drawn so deeply into the lives of the characters that I became afraid for them.

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,

I really liked Emma's neighbours in the tenement house where she lived, her land lady Mrs Pickering with her adorable dog Tubby, the seemingly gruff older Mr  Sanderson, most of her colleagues at the ,library as well as some of the library  (I learned how a lending library worked, there is an explanation of them by the author)

You will love the ending.   One of the marvellous aspects of the work is all the novels mentioned, watching Olivia learn to love reading.  Ok and Tubby is a joy for dog lovers.

. Madeline Martin is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance with books translated into over twenty-five languages. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband (known as Mr. Awesome), two amazing daughters, and two very spoiled cats.