The Wartime Book Club

I selected The Wartime Book Club for last month's Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge.  It is a historical fiction account that was inspired by true events.  You can read about those events at the end of the book where you will also find study questions and a bibliography concerning the island of Jersey where the setting of the book is located.

The publisher's summary:

The Isle of Jersey was once a warm and neighborly community, but in 1943, German soldiers patrol the cobbled streets, imposing a harsh rule. Nazis have ordered Grace La Mottée, the island's only librarian, to destroy books that threaten the new regime. Instead, she hides the stories away in secret. Along with her headstrong best friend, she wants to fight back. So she forms the Wartime Book Club: a lifeline, offering fearful islanders the joy and escapism of reading. But as the occupation drags on, the women's quiet acts of bravery become more perilous – and more important – than ever before. And when tensions turn to violence, they are forced to face the true, terrible cost of resistance.

 

I LOVED this novel!  I was unable to put it down and read it in one setting. I was hooked from the first chapter. The story was so intriguing that I was interested even though the wartime library did not appear until one third of the way into the story. The two main characters, Bea and Grace, friendship was pretty compelling and how they made decisions became a part of what happened later in the story.  These ladies were complete opposites but best friends and they were able to let each other be who they were and forgive easily any slights that they felt. In this sense, the story is about friendship and loyalty.

I don't enjoy WWII books much but this one was about those left behind from soldiers.  It did not have any military action. The story was about how a community stuck together during the occupation of their island. While there were a few who turned in their neighbors to the Nazis in order to obtain additional food, most of the residents helped each other out as much as they could. Each chapter began with the name of a banned book and why it was banned. The story shows the importance of these banned books to Jersey residents and the reader sees how Grace was able to deliver these books to residents without getting caught by the Nazi occupiers. Grace's heroism is the main theme of the plot. A secondary plot concerns her friend Bea. Bea made many mistakes and did not take care to hide what she was doing. She was impulsive and that got her into more than one fix.

Author Kate Thompson did several years of research into the Channel Islands during WWII. The details in her story are indicative of this. In addition, there are about 100 pages of history, bibliography, and study questions to ponder at the end of the story. I found these details equally as intriguing as the story. Since I love history, I appreciate all of this information.

5 out of 5 stars.