Review: The Underground Library

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm so sorry. I don't know if it's becuase I've been reading a lot of stories similar to this type (Historical/Fiction), and I'm saturated with them. But I'm finding that I can't seem to 'get into' this story. I'm at 65%, and I'm just ready to give it up.

I see so many glowing reviews that I wonder if it's something to do with me. There are three main characters, which I would not find a problem with, but add to this so many secondary and tertiary characters, and I started needing a scorecard!

The idea is interesting and true; it tells how the Bethnal Green Library helped win the war!

Excerpt taken from https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Bethnal Green underground was a half-completed stop on the Central line when war broke out. Builders were working on connecting it to Liverpool Street, but from 1939 it had been locked up and left. One week after the blitz began, East Enders defied Churchill’s orders not to shelter in tube stations and claimed their right to safety. At 78 feet below ground, it was one of the few safe places to shelter in the area and was referred to by locals as the “Iron Lung”. Over the next 12 months it was transformed into a fully-functioning subterranean community with an astonishing array of facilities."

Had we stuck with more about the library and less about the love lives of these women, I think I would have enjoyed this a little more.


*ARC supplied by the publisher Ballantine Books, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS:"When the Blitz imperils the heart of a London neighborhood, three young women must use their fighting spirit to save the community’s beloved library in this heartwarming novel from the author of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

When new deputy librarian, Juliet Lansdown, finds that Bethnal Green Library isn't the bustling hub she's expecting, she becomes determined to breathe life back into it. But can she show the men in charge that a woman is up to the task of running it, especially when a confrontation with her past threatens to derail her?

Katie Upwood is thrilled to be working at the library, although she's only there until she heads off to university in the fall. But after the death of her beau on the front line and amid tumultuous family strife, she finds herself harboring a life-changing secret with no one to turn to for help.

Sofie Baumann, a young Jewish refugee, came to London on a domestic service visa only to find herself working as a maid for a man who treats her abominably. She escapes to the library every chance she can, finding friendship in the literary community and aid in finding her sister, who is still trying to flee occupied Europe.

When a slew of bombs destroy the library, Juliet relocates the stacks to the local Underground station where the city's residents shelter nightly, determined to lend out stories that will keep spirits up. But tragedy after tragedy threatens to unmoor the women and sever the ties of their community. Will Juliet, Kate, and Sofie be able to overcome their own troubles to save the library? Or will the beating heart of their neighborhood be lost forever?"