Book Review: The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

The Last Bookshop in London: A Tale of World War II

by Madeline Martin (Martin)

 

Recently I have been on a kick reading historical fiction, especially World War II fiction, and I was pleased to see this new book by Madeline Martin. I wasn’t disappointed. The Last Bookshop in London not only vividly depicts what it must have been like living day-to-day during World War II, but also how books help us grow, explore new places, and continue to find hope.

 

The story begins in August 1939 when a young woman, Grace Bennett, moves to London with her best friend Viv. After her mother passed away Grace had been living with an unkind uncle and his family, taking care of his shop in the small town of Drayton, Norfolk. But now she is setting off to London for a fresh start with her mother’s friend Mrs. Weatherford and her son Colin. Because her uncle refused to write her a letter of recommendation, Grace is grateful that Mrs. Weatherford has lined up a job for her at a small local bookshop, Primrose Hills Books, where she can work and earn a recommendation letter.

 

But when she shows up the first day for work, it’s not what she expects. The shop is dusty. Books lie everywhere, many are still boxed in the back room. There is no semblance of order. And the bookstore owner, with his nose constantly buried in a book, tells her he doesn’t want her assistance. Lacking courage, Grace returns home dejected. However, the job details are quickly ironed out by the strong-willed Mrs. Weatherford and Grace begins her six-month temp job for Mr. Evans. Grace whips the shop into shape, cleaning out the grime, putting books in order, and creating attractive displays. Not a reader herself, Grace gets ideas on how a bookshop should be organized after visiting the prime book shops on Pasternoster Row.

 

And into the story walks George Anderson. Intelligent and attractive, they hit it off. But then Great Britain goes to war. He is called up as a pilot before they can go to tea. But he leaves her something, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. And it changes her life forever. She becomes locked in the book’s grasp and she discovers what it is like to be transported to other places and live the lives and experiences of other people without leaving home. Grace then turns that new love into her work at the bookstore: reading books, recommending books, and helping others in London find that same escape from their troubles through reading.

 

Throughout the book, Grace invests herself in her new community, becoming an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) warden to help during blackouts, then bombings. She reads to fellow Londoners in the local shelter to create a distraction while the bombs drop and the city burns. And when Primrose Hill Books becomes “the last bookshop in London” she even offers other bombed book stores an opportunity to sell their undamaged wares.

 

The author doesn’t overdo it in terms of describing the blood and gore, but she also doesn’t leave out the hardships of war. Characters you come to love in the book fall victim to bombs and fires; and as an ARP warden, Grace isn’t spared the sights of these horrors. In order to keep calm and carry on, she attempts to pack those experiences in a neat box, locked tight and set in a dark, dark corner of her mind where someday she will carry them like scars.

 

I enjoyed and would recommend The Last Bookshop in London because it vividly depicts through imagery and storytelling how it felt to live during wartime in London — how it felt to keep losing everything but yet to carry on. I especially enjoyed the message that hope and a new beginning can always be found for those who look for it. And the book will also strike a chord with avid readers who remember how it felt to discover their first book love.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Lilac Girls by Marsha Hall Kelly, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah or Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian.]

[ official The Last Bookshop in London page on the official Madeline Martin web site ]

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

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