I hope you’ll find good cheer in this season! As my contribution, I’m reviewing a recent novel, The Last Bookshop in London, an inspiring story of the power of books, courage, friendship, and hope as London endures the Blitz during World War II.
London, 1939. Grace, a young woman from a small town in Norfolk, arrives in the big city, desperate for a job. She lands a temporary position at a run-down bookstore, but she’s not a reader and has little interest in books. Then the Blitz, Germany’s effort to bomb England into submission, begins. Britons’ responses often put them in conflict with each other, even as people needed to unite to survive this dire threat to their nation’s existence.
How much of this story is based on facts vs. fiction?
Author Madeline Martin answers this question in a blog post:
“Aside from the characters and Primrose Hill Books itself, everything is as true to history as was possible for me to make it. Even the location of the bombings and when they occurred (with one exception) are exactly how they were recorded in history.”
How did the author come to understand her characters’ world?
She used the following sources:
- Books
- Personal eyewitness accounts
- Photos taken before, during, and after the war
- Videos and sound bites
Characters: (a few of the many)
- Grace, the protagonist – young and naïve at the start, the story’s events force her to make choices that help her mature
- Mr. Evans – owner of Primrose Hill Books, his depression adds to Grace’s doubts about working at the bookstore
- Mrs. Weatherford – Grace’s host in London, a support to Grace. In the face of tragedy, she must find new strength and purpose.
- George Anderson – Grace’s love interest, he’s a lover of books who joins up to fight the Germans.
- Mr. Stokes – an Air Raid Precautions warden partnered with Grace to monitor blackout compliance during the Blitz. His attitude and beliefs challenge Grace.
- Jimmy – orphan who hesitates to trust anyone after his parents are killed in the Blitz.
Strengths: The well-crafted plot, telling details, and sympathetic characters combine to create a page-turner that’s both entertaining and educational.
Weakness: Happy endings for the surviving characters leave readers on a positive note, but they seemed a bit unrealistic after the tragedies of World War II and the Blitz.
Content review: Descriptions of death and injuries, but no profanity or physical intimacy.
I recommend The Last Bookshop in London. This novel’s time setting could have made it depressing. Instead, Madeline Martin skillfully weaves a plot that doesn’t avoid the terror and death of this harrowing time, but ends in personal transformation and national unity.
Reader, what novels inspire you?