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The Little Wartime Library
- Narrated by: Sarah Durham
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
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Publisher's Summary
London, 1944.
Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While the world remains at war, in East London, Clara has created the country's only underground library, built over the railway tracks in the disused Bethnal Green tube station. Down here, a whole community thrives: with hundreds of bunk beds, a café and a theatre offering shelter from the bombs that fall above.
Along with her glamorous best friend and assistant librarian, 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.
Based on true events, The Little Wartime Library is an inspiring and heart-wrenching story of life on the home front, and of the strength of courage required to fight for what you believe in.
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What listeners say about The Little Wartime Library
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- Debra Owens
- 23-04-2022
Wow, just wow!!!
Absolutely couldn't put this down!!! Every now and then a book comes along and ... kapokw my kids are living on 2 minute noodles for a few days because I can't put it down. 🙃
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- Rachel Howser
- 20-05-2022
Thoroughly enjoyed this book
wow this was an amazing book to listen too. keep.me hooked all the way.
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- Colette McNeill
- 11-09-2022
a wonderful read
Whilst this book is a work of fiction, Kate Thompson has built the story around true events and given us an insight to the libraries during WWII. I lived every bit of this book
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- Anonymous User
- 29-03-2022
Excellent historical WWII
Another fantastic fiction book based on factual events set in WW II describing the everyday lives of East End London. The research Kate Thompson puts into her books is commendable and never disappoints, I have learnt more about WWII history by reading fiction, congratulations Kate on another excellent book!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 22-01-2023
Wartime Facts welded into good fiction
The horrors of wartime in London's Eastend are realistically brought to life through the characters in this eminently readable fiction, which includes the appalling impact of some of the horrific events which occurred, as well as highlighting the incredible resilience and creative coping ability that so many people displayed.
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- Karen Harris
- 22-07-2022
So Much History.
Enjoyed listening so much. Beautiful story with so much emotion. Loved the war memories immensely.
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- Mrs R A Jenkins
- 01-08-2022
A great listen
I really enjoyed this book. It made me laugh and and cry. I also learnt a few things.😃
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- Anonymous User
- 15-01-2023
A lovely story of women and war
A beautiful story of strong women rising above the atrocity of war and survival. Friendship and love
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- Carron
- 15-10-2022
A Mixed Bag
I have a bit of a mixed view of this one.
I considered returning it a few times but kept with it. The writer had a nice writing style that was easy to follow and the chapters themselves were enjoyable. The characters were believable and the descriptions easy to imagine. It felt realistic for the period.
On the other side, the story lacked an over arching reason for reading. It didn't go in-depth into any of the characters enough to be a character investigation the likes of "Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine." But there also didn't feel like there was one problem/solution that arc'd from the beginning to the end of the story. More like multiple little problem/solutions which often arc'd within one chapter.
I also found it hard to keep the different characters straight but that might have been due to the reading. Each chapter was written from a different character's point of view (Ruby or Clara) but there wasn't a huge variation between the voices. Perhaps if I'd read it myself, I'd have kept the characters a little clearer in my head.
In terms of the reader. Characters aside, she had a love voice to listen to and the accents were very genuine. However, I'm not sure she was the right choice for these characters. They were supposed to be in their early 20s but the readers voices made them sound much more middle aged. Of course there could be bias in my thinking since one was a war widow, they'd gone through so much in such a short time and as a no UK resident I am probably more used to hearing that accent associated with middle-aged house wives in TV shows.
Setting that aside though, the age didn't really affect the characters believability that much. They acted like people beyond their years because of their experiences.
So, all in all, a very mixed review. I enjoyed the story in general but think over all, I felt it lacked a little cohesion.
I definitely wouldn't call it "Gripping" as the publishers description does, but I think an Australian reviewer's description of it being a "love letter to libraries" is probably more accurate. Especially with the author's article at the end, which was quite interesting.
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- carol
- 27-04-2022
Absolutely mind numbingky awful! Totally boring drivel that made me cringe An absolute waste of time and money.
What an awful waste of time and money! I wanted to shake the sickly sweet too good to be true man character.
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