The Little Wartime Library

Product Information

So many families are homeless and a safe place is made for them to live underground, five thousand three tiered bunks are installed, it has a café, nursery, theatre and a library. Clara’s a trained librarian and Ruby isn't your typical assistant, between them they make a great team and devise ingenious ways of lending out as many books as they can. Visiting factories and delivering books to shift workers, holding a nightly story time for the children, starting a boozy book club for their mothers, and Clara sends a letter to Canada asking for donations of children’s classic books. A gripping and heart-wrenching novel set in London in World War Two, following the two women who run a secret underground library

I loved the book’s structure as the Prologue and Epilogue act like bookends to the main narrative. A story that thrums with vibrancy This has to be one of my best books of 2022. Yes I realise we’ve barely woken up from the new year celebrations but this is such a wonderful story, beautifully told that I am sure I am going to be hard pressed to find a match to this. The narration is shared in alternating turns by Clara the librarian at the center of it all and gutsy Ruby her assistant from the lower class London East End, a shining character who I enjoyed quite a lot. They were up against those, mostly male authority, who thought they knew better whether there should be a library or not and their own personal pains, losses, secrets, and demons filled in the conflict. But, like old-style bartenders with Google-savvy minds, the librarians were more than book pushers and really heard out people and dispensed advice and help with their book offerings (hats off to the librarians who are still at it today). I loved seeing Clara and Ruby making a difference for this unique community living in the underground tubes (subways) after the bombs started pounding aboveground London to bits. I liked the little romance for Clara though she’s getting past her loss so it wasn’t the forefront of the story. My name is Kate. I live in leafy Surrey, England in a haunted former bakery on the banks of the river Thames, with my two sons and two rescue dogs. When Im not writing, I am trying to tire out boys and dogs on endless walks. Bethnal Green’s secret Underground wartime library offers up a remarkable story that reveals how, even in the darkest of times, working-class East Enders had access to books, entertainment and culture.

Customer reviews

Beautifully written with emotion this story is based on true events is heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time as we see Clara and Ruby stand up for the people who need this library, Clara is the most caring person as is Ruby both have been through so much and deserve happiness. I loved getting to know the people who live in this underground world, I cried with them and cheered them one, anyone who loves reading and loves a library must read this story, it truly shows what a library means to so many people. I highly recommend this story, I loved it. And we see how books such as The Wind in the Willows, Rebecca, Treasure Island, and Gone with the Wind gave vital respite from the deadly blitz and the resulting tragic deaths; from grief over loved ones lost on the battlefield; from domestic violence, sexual assaults, and other crimes that ensued as before. When you close a library, bad things start to happen in the neighbourhood where the library used to be. The library is the glue that holds a community together and you only miss it after it has gone. " True story from the East End of London during WWII: The Bethnel Green library was destroyed by German bombs during the Blitz, and much of the surrounding neighborhood was destroyed as well. In a bit of serendipity, the Bethnel Green Tube station had not yet been put into service, so the space became the underground home for the community's displaced people. There was a cafe, a theater, ranks upon ranks of bunk beds, and a library. The author’s note at the end was as enjoyable as the novel! This is essential reading for bibliophiles around the world.

He added: “In the library the youngsters are vocally busy with their book-selection, but why should they not chatter to their heart’s content?”

Kate Thompson has conducted a range of historical research to magnify the events, time period and finer moments of this wartime novel. With a hearty author’s note, a select bibliography, a segment on the true story of the Bethnal Green Library and the fight to save it, along with a ‘Read for Victory’ bonus piece, I appreciated all the extra flourishes contained in this text. As a bibliophile I was moved by the various librarian quotes integrated into the chapter openings. So, there is more than just a moving narrative to enjoy when readers select The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson! This novel is a must for anyone who likes books set in this era and would like a glimpse into the lives and resilience of ordinary people in this harrowing time. Sometimes it only takes a glance at the title to know that herein lies a soulmatch book. Library love, WWII London underground community, and the resourceful spirit of a pair of women librarians and the community of the Bethnal Green underground tugged at my heart and left only satisfaction in their wake. History isn’t about dates and battlefields, leaders, and royalty. It’s about ordinary people getting on with the business of living, in spite of such unforgiving odds. And somehow in the process always managing to hold hard to hope. This is a remarkable novel inspired by the even more remarkable real life story of a library under ground! The library is the one at Bethnal Green in a disused tube station during the war.

Bethnal Green’s secret underground wartime library offers up a remarkable story that reveals how, even in the darkest of times, working-class East Enders had access to books, entertainment and culture. Many thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this exceptional novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. During the war, the facilities were amazing down the Tube; it had everything you needed. There was even a mobile hairdresser, who used to come down the tunnels doing people’s hair out in rags before bed so they woke up with nice curly hair. Terrific!I love the two women who run the underground library and how resilient they are and I love most of the other characters as well. I love the world building and how much research the author does include in the book as well. The Little Wartime Library is fast paced and exciting. There are moments of terrible suffering through the impact of war, balanced by light-hearted banter and humour. Bunk beds in the tunnels at Bethnal Green underground station: Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson is a heart-warming tale of friendship and resilience in tough times during the war in 1944. This story is based on true events.