Review: The Underground Library

 The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (Ballantine Books, 12 March 2024).

August 1940.

Three young women, living in the Bethnal Green area of north London, connect through the library and become friends.  

Juliet, 26, has come from the countryside to be deputy librarian at the Bethnal Green Library. Eighteen-year-old Katie, a local, is working at the library for the summer.  Sofie, 10, is a Jewish refugee from Berlin, having secured a visa as a domestic worker.

That month was when the German air raids on London began.  Residents soon discovered that the safest place to shelter was in the underground railway stations.  Eventually, the underground shelters turned into makeshift communities, complete with entertainment and food vendors.

At first, Juliet begins reading aloud to the sheltering crowds, but when the library is bombed, she salvages books and shelving from the rubble and creates an underground lending library.  A retired teacher proposes a school to keep the younger children occupied and out of trouble.  

However, when library administrators learn of this, they are not at all supportive (how could a woman possibly run a library?)  but the locals rally en masse and convince them that the endeavour is worthwhile.

As she did with previous historical novels like The Chilbury Ladies' Choir and The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, Jennifer Ryan makes readers feel as though they are living the story.

Highly recommended!