Nice book about the growth of a young girl from the country who comes to London just before WWII. Her awakening to the joys of reading is a delight. I appreciated the gathering of community around the bookshop. A lovely look at that period of time. It got me to pick up South Riding which has been on my list for years. I look forward to her next WWII novel.

In a sea of WWII novels focusing on the resistance or the holocaust or the experience of soldiers, it was refreshing to read a novel that highlights the struggle of the people left behind to carry on as the war rages on around them. It was interesting to see how the common woman made due as the war affected different facets of her life and the steps taken to bolster spirits. At the same time, this is a novel about books and how a great story can heal a troubled soul. The only real negative was that some elements felt a little too storybook wonderful. The main character seemed a bit too perfect with the answer to solve every problem. Come the end, when tragedy strikes and everyone comes together, it felt a little too sweet and wonderful to be anything but fiction. Otherwise I really enjoyed this novel and seeing how a little bookshop could touch so many lives at the start of the war.

This was such a wonderful read! I was immediately invested in all the characters, related to them, and was swept into the story. I was enjoying it so much that before I was even halfway through it I bought a copy for my great aunt. I felt like there were moments that felt a little cliche, but overall it was just lovely.

Grace and Viv came to the big city--London- from rural England looking for work, and the two stay with an old friend of Grace's mother. The excitement of the big city wasn't quite what they had expected--World War ll was coming. Grace found a job working in a bookstore, even though she had never been a reader. But she wanted to do more to help, she became an air raid warden. Grace, her friends, and her employer experience shortages, and terror from the blitz, but they also develop community that helps them survive. Because Grace has discovered the power of reading to help survive, she begins to read to the people she shares the subways with during the blitz. A moving book about the horrors of war and the power of books to bring people together. I received an ARC, was under no pressure for this review. I loved this book, and will be a good way for young adults to learn about the blitz in London.

Grace Bennett and her friend Viv left Drayton in Norfolk for London in August 1939. The plan was to stay with Mrs. Weatherford, a good friend of Grace's mother, and get a job at Harrods. That did not go as planned for Grace. Instead, she got a job as shop assistant at Primrose Books. That was her good fortune! At Primrose Books, she acquired a love of reading and learned to excel at marketing books even during the Blitz. She also learned what is most needed by people - compassion for others. And, in the end, that compassion for others brought her assistance when she most needed it. An interesting read that helps make the Blitz come to life.

A solid, if fairly predictable, offering in the large market of novels set during the Blitz. Grace is a young woman who has moved to London in hopes of obtaining a job at Harrods with her best friend, Viv. Without a letter of reference, she’s unable to get a position at the renowned department store, but her late mother’s friend is able to secure her a position at Primrose Hill Books. Grace has never been a big reader, but she can put in her six months to get the coveted letter of reference. Then the war comes, and everything changes.

For fans of the (relatively) modern Western cannon, there are plenty of name drops and references as Grace develops as a reader. There are some great moments of development for Grace in the story, but also some rushed plot and character development. The Last Bookshop in London suffers from heavy competition from other novels set in London during the Blitz. For another time period, this book might shine, but in a saturated market, it stands as an also-ran. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it, but it wouldn’t be my first grab off of the shelf when recommending WWII/Blitz fiction.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

This is a well written, intriguing work. It is the story of a woman and her time during the Blitz. He ends up in London working at a bookstore. During this, she learns the power storytelling can have. She realizes stories aren't just for children, but for everyone. This book deals with friendships, a bit of romance, and hope during a horrible period of history. Grace is the star of this emotional roller coaster.

A heartwarming story of survival during World War II and a small group of people who gathered at the Last Bookshop in London to help each other through the air raids and bombing.

This book was a page-turner that got me out of a reading rut with a fascinating look at what it was like to live in London during the Blitz in WW2, while remaining an overall uplifting read despite the sometimes sad and difficult events covered. I read a lot of historical fiction, but found myself learning more than usual about the time period covered. While it is a book about WW2 and there are some sad events as expected, I still felt this was a "light" read and really kept me engaged and eager for more! Going to look for more Madeline Martin!

While there seems to be so many novels set in WWII, Madeleine Martin's The Last Bookshop in London feels like a fresh take on the genre.

Grace and her best friend Viv have left behind their lives in the country for what they hope will be the excitement of living in the big city of London. They move into the home of Grace's late mother's friend, Mrs. Weatherford, and her kindhearted son Colin.

Viv is able to get a job at Harrod's glamorous department store, but the only job Grace can get is at Primrose Hill, a local bookstore. Grace is not a reader, and she is taken aback at the disarray and disorganization of the store.

Mr. Evans, the owner of the bookshop, reluctantly takes Grace on as an employee on a temporary basis as a favor to Mrs. Weatherford. Grace gets to work cleaning and organizing the shop, and when handsome George comes in and suggests she read The Count of Monte Crisco to begin her education, Grace is smitten.

When England declares war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, things in London change. Colin and George are off to war, Viv leaves to join the war effort, but Grace stays behind with Mrs. Weatherford. Grace becomes a warden at night, walking the neighborhood to ensure that everyone follows the blackout envelop you as you read.

Soon the Germans begin nightly bombing runs over England, known as the Blitz. Each night the residents of London would take cover in the underground subway tunnels while German planes bombed civilian targets in the city, destroying it piece by piece. Martin immerses the reader in this terrorizing nightly ritual alongside the London residents.

One night, Grace begins to read aloud to her neighbors in the Underground, which becomes a balm to them. She takes to afternoon readings in the bookshop, and people pack the store to hear her.

As someone who works at a bookstore, I truly enjoyed Grace's evolution of the shop. She creates marketing ideas, including participating in the National Book Token system. People were encouraged to buy book tokens that people could take into bookstores to exchange for books, like a gift cards. I had not heard of this, and I loved it.

Madeline Martin does such a brilliant job putting the reader into this neighborhood in London, which was a character in the book, as was the bookshop. We understand the importance of the bookshop as a refuge from war to the community, and how the community comes together when the bookshop needs them.

I highly recommend The Last Bookshop in London for anyone who loves bookstores and a good WWII story told from a fresh perspective.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on Madeline Martin's tour.

This is a very realistic story of the bombing of London during World War II. It shows the horror of not only the bombs but surviving the rationing, the separation of families and the loss of life. Grace arrives in London in the summer of 1939 to stay with a friend of her late mother. She finds work at the Primrose Bookshop. As she and the owner find ways to work together to help the people of London the war takes it's toll. Grace becomes a local bomb warden at night and reads to the local people during the day. Life becomes hard for all. This is a segment of history that many don't know and it's books like this one that brings that time into focus. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

At first, I was thinking this was going to be like any other WWII heroine/survival story. And of course, it was...but it was also so much more. I loved how the city came around to the bookstore, how Grace was not a reader and became forced to work in a bookshop and became just as obsessed with books as all of us bookworms are. I love how in the midst of war and hardship, people knew to look to books. It was a beautifully hearbreaking book and I will definatly be putting i ton my WWII fiction recommendation list!

A great look at London during World War II. Grace comes to London as an uncertain, sort of wishy-washy person with a great work ethic. Working in a rundown book shop was not her goal, but perhaps it is where she is meant to be. I loved the descriptiveness and the feeling that people must've had, living with the threat of death on a daily/nightly basis. I also loved Grace's transition to strength and confidence.

This is a charming book that transported me to a different era. The story is engaging and you just want to keep reading and living your life through the characters!

Full of heart, hope and the romance of reading. A booklover's paradise set against the transient world of the Blitz where resilience is found between pages and hope in the memory that things will return.


nice whiff of a love story --not only between readers and reading but two readers who find connection against devastation.


discussion and interview with Madeline posted here: https://fb.watch/7l74gxNPRG/

Oh, this was an absolutely delightful read. This was one of those stories you pick up and can read all the way through without putting back down because it's so absorbing. Wonderful, believable, disparate characters behaving like real people in real situations. Best friends Grace and Viv move to London right before the war looking for jobs, and stay with a family friend, Mrs. Weatherford and her adult son Colin. Colin finds Viv a job at Harrod's where he works, and Mrs. Weatherford finds Grace a place with a rather cranky bookseller with a dusty old shop miles away from all the other bookshops. War is declared and the war effort ensues. Grace becomes an Air Raid Warden and each does their bit, but it's when Colin is called up and the Blitz starts that it all becomes terribly real. Seeing the Blitz from a warden's perspective is unusual and fascinating, just getting around in pitch blackness is amazing in itself, then dealing with the actual bombings, fires, and casualties. That so many had to deal with such horrors night after night after night after.... A really nice description of day to day life in blitzed London without it looking remotely like research, seamlessly woven into the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book start to finish.

The Last Bookshop in London is the story of a young woman named, Grace Bennett. Grace lost her mother and has been living with her Uncle's family in the country for some time. She, along with her best friend, Viv, decide to head to London and see what the big city holds for them. If they are fortunate they will find employment in a distinguished shop such as Harrods, and fill their evenings with cinema, theatre, dancing, and dining out.

However, Grace finds herself in the employment of a stodgy bookshop owner, Mr. Evans, and the country is on the brink of war. Things are not going according to plan, but that is sometimes when we learn the most, and find a strength that we never knew we could possibly possess.

This book is at times predictable, but it was still an engaging story. I learned some bits of history that I had not known prior to reading, and did some further research on my own thanks to the author's inclusion of these facts. I haven't read a lot of WWII novels from the British point of view, so it was interesting to see a new perspective of this horrendous war. I very much enjoyed the realness that the author brought to her characters, sometimes I found myself surprised that people would still be going about their day to day lives during a time like this; and while portions of it may have been embellished, I do believe that there would have been comfort in the routine.

I also appreciated that the romantic element took quite a bit of a backseat to everything else that was going on, and the passage of time that was indicated throughout the book was much appreciated.

While not my favorite book I've read in this genre, it was still very good, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the WWII era, 1940's, or England.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but I absolutely loved it. As a librarian and a reader, I found this book such a testament to the power of books and sharing the love of reading with others. Not only this, but the story Martin told of the horrors of WWII and what it might have been like to live through such a chaotic and terrifying time in London. I read this book in less than a day. I wanted to know if the Book Shop would survive, if Grace would survive and how it would end. The author did not disappoint!

Madeline Martin's story perfectly captures the plucky nature of young women on the British Home Front! Intricately researched and beautifully told, readers will be hard-pressed not to fall in love with Grace's story, rooting for her until the very end!

I love that this book spoke to both the power of literature but also the community aspect of reading. This was a heartwarming read that any book lover will adore. I thought that the author's portrayal of the events of World War II in London was accurate. I liked Grace's story and I admired her character.