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For voracious readers, a good book can be the best medicine when times get tough. In fact, just the smell of a book can bring peace and comfort. And in The Underground Library by author Jennifer Ryan, a group of readers find their comfort in an unlikely place during wartime.
The story explores the power of books through the lives of three women living in London during the Blitz. When Juliet Lansdown takes a job as the deputy librarian, she’s eager to start a new life away from her disapproving parents—and the memories of a fiancé who went missing after running from battle. She soon finds that she’s not the only one who finds comfort in the pages of a book. And as the people of London are sent underground to wait out the nightly attacks, Juliet brings the books with her.
Each night, the Nazis fly overhead, dropping bombs on the city, leaving death and devastation in their wake. But, below the city streets, in the underground station, Juliet helps the people escape for a while in a good book. She sets up book groups and nightly readings—and when the library is bombed, she brings it underground. And anyone who’s ever gotten caught up in a good novel will understand the kind of comfort that real underground libraries like this fictional one must have given those who were scared and lonely and grieving.
While painting a picture of life in London during the Blitz, the author also weaves together the stories of three different women whose lives intersected because of their circumstances—the deputy librarian who wouldn’t have gotten the job if the men hadn’t left for the war, a young woman who lost the man she loved on the front lines, and the Jewish refugee struggling to survive away from her family. And these women—along with some of the others in the community—are developed in a way that readers will feel connected to their stories and care about what happens to them. Admittedly, in the end, most of the storylines come together in a way that’s a little too neat and orderly for wartime. But with its mix of history and drama and a little bit of romance, it’s a fascinating tale of the value of books in even the most struggling of communities.
Jennifer Ryan definitely has a gift for bringing history to life on the page—for bringing readers alongside her characters to experience life in a different time. And that makes The Underground Library a novel that’s heartwarming and uplifting—and eye-opening, too.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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