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?” Young childless widow Clara Button is doing her bit for the war effort, running Britain’s only Underground Shelter Library.... Our barbarous foes may be hell-bent on burning London to the ground, but beneath the city’s surface, Mrs. Button calmly carries on stamping books and ensuring everyone has a thumping good read to take their mind off the bombs." This novel is inspired by real life events that took place at Bethnal Green during WWII and saw the half-finished tube station turned into a fully-functioning subterranean community sleeping up to five thousand and served by an astonishing array of facilities including a library. The story opens in March 1944 when widowed Children’s librarian, Clara Button, finds herself at the helm of the underground library having stepped in after the overground library was bombed in the first week of the Blitz and her boss died. Ably assisted by her best friend, irrepressible Ruby, both set aside their own heartache to keep the community library seventy-eight feet underground operating whilst the bombing continues. Alongside issuing books, chatting to the lonely, running a nightly storytime for the children sleeping down the shelter and a reading group that causes a stir, there are laughter, tears, company and moral support for all. But for all Ruby’s chutzpah and Clara’s steely determination both have their own personal tragedies, specifically the death of Clara’s husband at Dunkirk five years earlier and Ruby’s sister’s death a year earlier in the fatal crushing incident on the steps that house the Bethnal Green tube shelter. Both of these traumas are memorably well-explored and resonate throughout the story.

This is a story about love, loss, forgiveness, acceptance, sacrifice, the importance of the human bond, having faith in oneself, finding your place and purpose in life. There was mystery, suspense, history, and of course so much about the amazing institution of the Library. This takes us into the heart and soul of what it means to be a part of something bigger than oneself. The author keeps the story firmly ground in reality; there are tragedies to accompany the triumphs. 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.When war was over, I missed life underground, and even now when I go to Bethnal Green and see the tube sign, I feel a warmth spread over my chest. To others, it’s a transport network; to me, it was my home.” The role of the library during war -- based on a true story -- is revealed in this gripping historical novel featuring courageous librarian Clara and her lively assistant Ruby: The crowd murmurs in anticipation. There is a drumroll. The presenter is given the envelope. It’s opened and I say….. Just brilliant!! I can't describe it any other way. The fact it's based on true events adds more layers to it. Along with her glamorous best friend and library assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war drags on, the women's determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it seems it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.

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. " Goodreads е постигнала изключително висок рейтинг! Ако някой не може да си представи какво може да направи една война с човешката природа; до какво може да доведе липсата на човечност у Хомо Сапиенс и как четенето на книги от децата ни може да спре възможността им сами да мислят и преценяват света - нека прочете The Little Wartime Library. Деца са бъдещето ни ! А библиотеките и училищата са мястото, където ще го направят светло! За да не позволяват някой да мисли вместо тях и да ги обрича с изкривени коментари на действителността! Books are for everybody. In a society where women shouldn’t read too much and children are considered just a nuisance, Clara strongly believes not only that everybody should read, but that they should be allowed to read any kind of book they want. Girls shouldn’t be forced to read only books “for girls”. Romance and fiction are as good as non-fiction. 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.The Little War Time Library is such a touching and heart-wrenching story based on true events. I think the fact it is based on true events adds even more emotion and real emotion to this book.