The Little Wartime Library

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson is a work of fiction based on actual events. Bethnal Green's first permanent library opened in 1922 financed by Andrew Carnegie. Then in September 1940 a bomb crashed through the roof of the building destroying the library. The Bethnal Green Underground was half completed at the start of the war but when the bombing of London began the local community took possession of the underground area. Tiers of bunks were installed where those whose homes had been destroyed could stay and a small underground community evolved including a nursery, theatre space and a library.

The characters in the book are fictional but the novel conveys the local community spirit that existed in that time of danger when so many people not only lost their homes and possessions but also members of their families in London, as well as those fighting overseas.

Clara Button was the children's librarian in the old library but she is now in charge of the underground library, assisted by close friend, Ruby Munroe. Together, with the assistance of many of the library patrons, they provide a service for those who need a distraction from what is occuring above ground. In the novel we meet a range of characters, including the children who swarm to the library for storytime each evening. The novel examines what reading and libraries mean to people.

But the war is never far away and the reader is constantly reminded of not only the impact of recent events on a close knit community but also devastation of the war overseas and its affects on families at home.

Throughout the novel the importance of books and libraries is stressed and at the beginning of each chapter there is a quote from librarians who comment on the importance of libraries and of reading. At the end of the book the author includes a history of the real Bethnal Green Library which was recently closed to become a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Centre. During recent years library services have been reduced or removed from many communities in the UK and a campaign was launched to ensure that Bethnal Green Library would reopen again. At the back of the book there is also a detailed section on the campaign to save public libraries and a detailed bibliography providing information about books about libraries as well books mentioned in the novel.

The Little Wartime Library is definitely one of the best books that I have read this year.