The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin

The Booklover's Library by Madeleine Martin

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN 978 13350000392

Trade paperback, $18.99, 432 pages

From the publisher:

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.

My thoughts:

I truly enjoyed Madeline Martin's Last Bookshop in London (my review here ) and so I was happy to hear that her newest novel  The Booklover's Library also has books at the heart of the story.

I had never heard of lending libraries located in a chemist shop in England. The system of A subscribers (who pay a higher subscription price and get first selection of the newest and better books) and B subscribers (who pay less and get the new books after the A subscribers have read them) intrigued me. I also found it fascinating that the library workers had to take a rigorous aptitude test. As I manage a used bookshop located in a branch of the New York Public Library, I was so involved in this part of the story.

As the story went on, I became very invested in Emma and her young daughter Olivia's story. As a widowed mother who had to work to support her child, Emma struggled with her decision to keep Olivia home with her in a city that may be targeted by German bombs or send her daughter off to the countryside with strangers and then with her estranged in-laws. I empathized with Emma and would not know what to do in that situation.

Fans of WWII historical fiction should definitely put The Booklover's Library on their To-Be-Read list. Martin clearly did her research (as she details in the Author's Note at the end) and she draws the reader in with her relatable characters and the situation they find themselves in. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2024 Blog Tours.

What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama

What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN 9788335005625

Hardcover, $21.99, 304 pages

I have always thought librarians were amazing, and after reading Michiko Aoyama's charming novel, What You Are Looking For Is In The Library, I am more convinced than ever.

It tells the stories of several people who are either at a crossroads or feeling stuck in their lives. Tomoka is 21 years old and works in a boring job at a clothing store in Tokyo. In order to get a better job, she has to improve her computer skills.

Her friend tells her about the Community House where she could take a class. At the community center she seeks out the reference librarian, Ms. Komachi, who listens to Tomoka's story and gives her advice, a list of books to check out, including a children's book seemingly unrelated to computers, and an odd little felt craft that Ms. Komachi made.

 Other people go the Community House for classes, and end up at the Reference desk with Ms. Komachi. A stay-at-home mom who was demoted from a job she loved when she returned to work after maternity leave is dissatisfied with her life, an accountant who dreams of owning his own antique shop, a recently retired man who doesn't know what to do with himself now that his identity has been taken away- they all end up at Ms. Komachi's desk. 

She listens carefully to each of them gives them advice, a list of books to help (including one seemingly unrelated to their search) and even though they don't understand all that Ms. Komachi tells them, eventually it all comes together.

The story is about the connections that people make, as this passage states:

"Everybody is connected. And any one of their connections could be the start of a network that branches in many directions. If you wait for the right time to make connections, it might never happen, but if you show your face around, talk to people and see enough to give you the confidence that things could work out, then 'one day' might turn into 'tomorrow'."

 
What You Are Looking For Is In the Library is a life-affirming, endearing story that restores your faith in humanity and will make you look for new connections in the people around you. It is perfect for fans of The Midnight Library (but I liked this one better). I adored this book and give it my highest recommendation.

Thanks to Harlequin or putting me on their Fall 2023 Blog Tours.

The Love You Save by Goldie Taylor

The Love You Save by Goldie Taylor

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN9781335449375

Hardcover, $28.99, 298 pages

Goldie Taylor's coming-of-age compelling memoir The Love You Save shares Goldie's story growing up in a tough East St. Louis neighborhood in the 1970s. After Goldie's father was murdered and her brother beaten and robbed, her grieving mother took Goldie and her two older siblings from their home near family in a mostly Black East St. Louis community to a mostly white St. Ann.

Her mom worked long hours at a hotel, and Goldie and her siblings were left alone for long periods of time. When she was eleven years old, Goldie was raped by a neighborhood boy and found little comfort from her mother.

She was sent to live with her Auntie Gerald and Uncle Ross back in East St. Louis. Gerald and Ross' home was filled with all kinds of relatives, many of them younger. The younger children had to scrounge for space to sleep on the floor and food to eat before it was all gone.

Auntie Gerald was a deeply religious woman who kept a clean household, but she had a temper that she frequently took out on Goldie. Ross was kind to all the children, he gave them the love many of them didn't get from their own parents. They did their best to keep everyone on a good path in trying circumstances.

Goldie's saving grace became the gifted classes she was put into at her middle school. The school was falling apart and at times violent, but a few of her teachers took Goldie under their wing and believed that she had a special talent, especially in the area of speech, for which she won many awards.

While the rest of her life was chaotic and sometimes dangerous, Goldie shined in her classes. She taught herself math from her older sister's books, and her refuge was the many books she borrowed (and appropriated) from the library, Jane Austen a favorite.

Eventually Goldie became entranced by James Baldwin. His writings spoke deeply to her, and she hungered to learn about him and others like Toni Morrison and Martin Luther King Jr. 

Taylor's writing is striking and she pulls the reader in from page one with her vivid portraits of Auntie Gerald and Uncle Ross. She makes the city of East St. Louis come alive on the page, and shares its history of how Blacks moved there from the deep South for work in factories and the white flight that followed that. The scourge of crack cocaine in the 1980s left many families and neighborhoods broken.

 Goldie Taylor shows us the resiliency of the human spirit, and how education can be a lifeline for those who reach for it. Readers of such books as Sarah M. Broom's The Yellow House, Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped and Tara Westover's Educated should put The Love You Save at the top of the TBR list. I read it in one sitting and found it incredibly moving. It makes a great book for Black History Month.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Goldie Taylor's tour. 

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN 9781335426918

Trade paperback, $16.99, 320 pages

Madeline Martin's terrific novel The Last Bookshop in London (my review here) told the story of a young woman who worked in a London bookshop during the Blitz of WWII. It was a fresh take on the popular WWII novels, and as someone who works in a bookstore, I enjoyed it.

Her new novel, The Librarian Spy, is also a unique WWII story. Martin sets this story in two cities- Lyon, France and Lisbon, Portugal. I can't recall reading a novel set in Lisbon, and didn't know anything about Portugal's role as a neutral country during WWII. I do now.

Ava Harper is a librarian working in the rare books room in the Library of Congress. She is recruited to help the United States war effort and is sent to Lisbon where she is tasked with purchasing magazines and newspapers from Germany, France, and elsewhere and microfilming them to send back to Washington DC to be studied by the War Department for intelligence that will help the war effort.

Elaine lives in Lyon, which is under the control of the Nazis and the Vichy government. When her husband  disappears, Elaine is recruited by his friend to work undercover with the French Resistance. Elaine works with other women hiding and passing out undercover newspapers to others in the Resistance. Eventually she ends up working on the printing press that creates the newspapers.

The contrast between Ava's life in Lisbon and Elaine's in Lyon is stark. Ava is enjoying tasty Portuguese pastries like pastéis de nata and living in a small but comfortable apartment while Elaine is constantly hungry and moving from one cramped safehouse to another trying to avoid being captured by the cruel Nazis who would torture her for information. 

Ava meets some British librarians, and catches the eye of one in particular, James. James takes Ava to fancy dinner parties, telling her it would aid the war effort, while Elaine anxiously searches for word about the whereabouts of her husband. Was he is prison, sent to a work camp, or dead?

There is a connection between Ava and Elaine that becomes apparent in the second half of the book as that revolves around a secret message that gets decoded and helps a woman escape.

At first I was more intrigued by Ava's story because I didn't know much about Lisbon (and I admire librarians, they are superheroes), but as the story progressed, Elaine's story captured me as well. Lisbon housed many refugees from the Nazi's, and was a point of departure for many who fled to the United States. The parallels to the refugees today fleeing war in Afghanistan and the Ukraine are significant.

Madeline Martin doesn't shy away from the horrors of the Nazis cruelties, and it can often hard, but yet important, to read. As a world we cannot keep allowing this atrocities to happen. It put me in mind of Jessica Shattuck's novel The Women in the Castle and Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale from a few years ago.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said "A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong it is until it's in hot water." Ava and Elaine personify that quite well in Madeline Martin's powerful novel The Librarian Spy.  I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on their Summer 2022 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.

The Last Bookshop In London by Madeline Martin

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN 9781335284808

Trade paperback, $16.99, 251 pages

While there seems to be so many novels set in WWII, Madeleine Martin's The Last Bookshop in London feels like a fresh take on the genre.

Grace and her best friend Viv have left behind their lives in the country for what they hope will be the excitement of living in the big city of London. They move into the home of Grace's late mother's friend, Mrs. Weatherford, and her kindhearted son Colin.

Viv is able to get a job at Harrod's glamorous department store, but the only job Grace can get is at Primrose Hill, a local bookstore. Grace is not a reader, and she is taken aback at the disarray and disorganization of the store.

Mr. Evans, the owner of the bookshop, reluctantly takes Grace on as an employee on a temporary basis as a favor to Mrs. Weatherford. Grace gets to work cleaning and organizing the shop, and when handsome George comes in and suggests she read The Count of Monte Crisco to begin her education, Grace is smitten.

When England declares war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, things in London change. Colin and George are off to war, Viv leaves to join the war effort, but Grace stays behind with Mrs. Weatherford. Grace becomes a warden at night, walking the neighborhood to ensure that everyone follows the blackout envelop you as you read.

Soon the Germans begin nightly bombing runs over England, known as the Blitz. Each night the residents  of London would take cover in the underground subway tunnels while German planes bombed civilian targets in the city, destroying it piece by piece. Martin immerses the reader in this terrorizing nightly ritual alongside the London residents.

One night, Grace begins to read aloud to her neighbors in the Underground, which becomes a balm to them. She takes to afternoon readings in the bookshop, and people pack the store to hear her.

As someone who works at a bookstore, I truly enjoyed Grace's evolution of the shop. She creates marketing ideas, including participating in the National Book Token system. People were encouraged to buy book tokens that people could take into bookstores to exchange for books, like a gift cards. I had not heard of this, and I loved it.

Madeline Martin does such a brilliant job putting the reader into this neighborhood in London, which was a character in the book, as was the bookshop. We understand the importance of the bookshop as a refuge from war to the community, and how the community comes together when the bookshop needs them. 

I highly recommend The Last Bookshop in London for anyone who loves bookstores and a good WWII story told from a fresh perspective. 

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on Madeline Martin's tour.

The Day Lincoln Lost by Charles Rosenberg

The Day Lincoln Lost by Charles Rosenberg

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN 978-1335145222

Hardcover, $27.99, 432 pages

If you are someone who thinks that this time in our political history is unprecedented, Charles Rosenberg's alternate history political thriller, The Day Lincoln Lost, may disabuse you of that notion.

Abraham Lincoln is laying low, waiting out his time as the Republican nominee for President in 1860 at his home in Springfield. Abby Kelley Foster, a famous abolitionist speaker, was asked to give a talk at a local church about the need to end slavery now. She was not a fan of Lincoln's gradual approach to end slavery, and let everyone know that, even in his hometown of Springfield.

Lucy, a twelve year-old girl who had escaped slavery, was captured and jailed in Springfield, awaiting her return to Goshorn, the man who "owned" her. Foster encouraged the crowd to "do something about this", and the crowd surrounded the carriage she was being taken away in. Lucy and Goshorn disappeared into the night.

Foster was arrested for inciting the riot and placed in the Springfield jail. Abraham Lincoln and his law partner Billy Herndon reluctantly agree to represent Foster at her trial, after much discussion about how this will politically affect Lincoln's run for president.

They strategize that the best outcome would be to find Lucy and Goshorn, so they turn to the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Pinkerton puts one of his best agents on the job- a woman by the name of Annabelle, who just so happens to have grown up on a plantation neighboring the missing slave owner.

I liked that the novel had two women who were in roles not usually occupied by females- lecture speakers and detective. The inclusion of actual people in the story, both famous- Lincoln, Allan Pinkerton, and Frederick Douglass- and less well known made for a more interesting story.

President James Buchanan, widely considered one of our worst presidents, is seen here as someone who cares little of the serious problems facing his country, and more concerned with the machinations to  defeat Lincoln. That section may have some resonance for readers today. 

One paragraph that particularly struck me is this: 

"There is such bitterness in our politics now that people want to avoid arguments with their neighbors, their families, and the people they work with. Or, if they are merchants, with the people they sell goods to."

I guess the rancor we see today didn't start with Twitter; it has been with us a long time.

In this novel, the election of 1860 was not decided immediately by popular vote. No candidate received enough electoral votes to claim victory, which sends the vote to the House of Representatives. (Political junkies will truly enjoy this section of the novel.) I only hope our upcoming election is easier.

The Day Lincoln Lost will appeal to people who like historical fiction as well as political thrillers. The writing is crisp and the characters well drawn. And it reminds us that this union has survived difficult times in the past, and will do so in the future.

Thanks to Harlequin/Hanover Square Press for putting me on Charles Rosenberg's tour.