Blog tour: The Booklover's Library

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Welcome to the blog tour for The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin!

More about the book…

In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job. She and her beloved daughter Olivia have always managed just fine on their own, but with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she's left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots' Booklover's Library to take a chance on her with a job.

When the threat of war in England becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In the wake of being separated from her daughter, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbours and coworkers, and a renewed sense of purpose through the recommendations she provides to the library's quirky regulars. But the job doesn't come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing and the work at the lending library forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.

More about the author…

Madeline Martin is a New York Times, USA TODAY, and international bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance with books that have been translated into over twenty different languages.

My impressions…

Once I got over the beauty of this cover, as a booklover and someone who’s partial to a good story set during World War II, I suspected this would be a novel I’d thoroughly enjoy. And reader, I did.

The author is a great storyteller, and the people she portrays are so real that I can’t help but missing them now that I’ve turned the last page. Rather than focusing on the atrocities of the war, the story of Emma and her daughter is told with a focus on the lives of the people who surround her, and we witness how important a collective sense of resilience and unity can be in difficult times.

I also loved learning about Boots’ Booklover’s Library, something that I was unfamiliar with and that makes this work of historical fiction even more worth reading.

Three words to describe it. Emotional. Uplifting. Unforgettable.

Do I like the cover? It’s utterly gorgeous.

Have I read any other books by the same author? No, but I am intrigued by some of her previous books.

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