Considering most of the events of the book occurred during
World War II, I’d expected more action, but this was more of an examination of
the lives of people in Nottingham, England, the difficulties women had at the
time to be allowed to work if they were married and/or had children, and the
literature of the time. I hadn’t known about the lending libraries in Boots Pharmacies
back then where, for a subscription fee, patrons could find books that
libraries didn’t carry and were too expensive to purchase. I did know about the
efforts to send children into the country to escape the bombing of the cities
and the women’s volunteer service. All of this is told through the eyes of a
widow with a young daughter, whose father had a bookstore in the city which had
burned, killing him and leaving her an orphan in her teens. Emma is plucky and
determined. The other characters are well-described. The relationship between
Emma and her daughter, Olivia, seemed genuine. I listened to the audiobook,
which was read with the women distinct, but the men sounding alike.
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