The Underground Library
The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan
368 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books, Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 12, 2024
Fiction, Historical Fiction, World War II, Great Britain
Sophie is a refugee from Berlin. She has a work visa as a maid to Mr. Wainwright. If she loses her position in the household, she loses her visa. He is a demanding and stern man. When she breaks an ornament, he takes her mother’s gold bracelet. She steals a ring and pawns in to get information of her family.
Juliet is the new deputy librarian. She was engaged to Victor who disappeared and believed to be a deserter. She begins making changes to the library like adding a book club and a children’s reading time. She volunteers her time as an ambulance driver.
Katie is a teenager preparing to go to university. She works with Juliet at the library. She learns her lover, Christopher, is missing and believed dead. Now she finds herself pregnant. Her mother’s plan is to pretend to be pregnant and pass the baby off as her own.
The book is fast paced, the characters are well developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. The story is set in the same time as the Wedding Dress Sewing Circle also written by this author. If you like historical fiction, you will enjoy this book.
