Book Review: The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan

Rating: 3.75⭐

“Libraries aren’t only about books; they’re about people. They’re about human life, how books can mend hearts, comfort wounds, and inspire us. But most of all, books can bring people together. Their ideas and thoughts make us realize that we are not alone, that we are all connected.”

Set WWII London, The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan revolves around three women whose lives intersect during the London Blitz. Elegant prose, well-thought-out characters and a consistently paced and fluid narrative make for an engaging read.

After her fiancée goes missing in Dunkirk, twenty-six-year-old Juliet Lansdown moves to London, where she finds employment at Bethnal Green Library as Deputy Librarian. She approaches her new position with eagerness and undertakes several initiatives to engage the community. In London, she also meets an old acquaintance from her village who encourages her to volunteer for the war effort in London. Eighteen-year-old library assistant Katie Upwood’s plans to attend university in the fall are upended after an unexpected development leaves her with no choice but to wait for her boyfriend to return from the front. But when tragedy strikes, she has no one to turn to but the friends she has made in the library. The library also provides nineteen-year-old Sofie Baumann, a Jewish refugee from Berlin who fled Nazi occupation under a work visa, a place to enjoy the books she loves among people who offer her kindness and friendship. Employed as a maid in the house of a vile widower, she is desperate to find out what happened to the family members whom she had to leave behind. After the library is bombed during the London Blitz, Juliet takes the initiative to relocate the surviving books into the Bethnal Green Underground Station – a mammoth task in itself compounded by her immediate boss’ resistance to the idea. But Julia and her friend succeed in their plans and Underground Library becomes a refuge from death and devastation all around, The narrative follows these three women and their friends as they rally around one another, lending support, kindness, a sense of community and friendship in one another’s time of need.

“Books give us so many things…..They give us a world to imagine, a cozy corner to lull us to sleep on a hard cold stone floor. They give us facts and figures to guide us, a knitting pattern or a recipe to help us with the rations, a map of the world or a history of Europe, the poets from the last war, and the news of this war, too. They give us joy, hope, and inspiration. They help us to see inside someone else’s world, empathize with people we’ve never met—and if there is one thing the world needs right now, it is the willingness to understand and connect.”

The narrative is shared from the perspectives of the three protagonists . The author has skillfully woven the different threads of this novel into a cohesive narrative. I was invested in the storylines of all three main characters and enjoyed the insights into life in the Bethnal Ground Underground community. It’s always rewarding to read about how books and the love for reading can bring people together. The novel touches upon several interesting aspects of WII such as how women contributed to the war effort back home, the British policy for internment of Jewish refugees and the psychological impact of war on those returning from the front. Given the three distinct storylines, there was a lot to cover in terms of each of the character's personal experiences during those difficult times. However, I would have enjoyed the story more had less emphasis been given to the romantic relationships of the characters and more time been devoted to the historical aspects. The ending is a bit too neatly tied up, but I respect the author’s choice to end the story on a positive note.

“But life isn’t always about choosing the plot. It’s about plunging in or plugging on, becoming submerged in your own story, having the courage to dip your head beneath the surface.”

The informative Author’s Note detailing the people, places and events that inspired this novel definitely enriched the overall reading experience.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Random House for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. was published on March 12, 2024.

Note: This novel is the second work of historical fiction featuring the Bethnal Green Underground Library that I’ve read , the first being Kate Thompson’s The Little Wartime Library which I would definitely recommend to fans of WWII historical fiction.