Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Following a scandal, Florence Granger has been thrown out by her bookbinder father onto the streets of Manchester. She has nowhere to go, but manages to intercept one of her father’s commissions, and makes her way to Rose Hall, pretending that her father sent her for the job. Lord Belfield has a massive library full of old and valuable books that he wants restored. But as fascinating as the rare books are, Florence finds Rose Hall and its many secrets equally as intriguing, particularly the rumors about Lady Persephone, Lord Belfield’s wife, and how she died. As she tries to unravel the mystery, the library is broken into one night, but strangely enough, none of the priceless books are taken and the only thing amiss is a half-burned book in the fireplace, Lady Persephone’s diary, which might be hold the truth about her death.

I basically saw library and mystery in the premise and added it to my TBR at once. Libraries are one of my favorite settings for books, unsurprisingly, and historical fiction in particular.

I loved the beginning of this book, following Florence as she tricked her way into Rose Hall and a job restoring the rare books in the library, stumbling upon a mystery in the process. But as the story unfolded, I found myself less and less invested by the page and was skimming through much of it by the end. The premise was kind of misleading to be honest, since I expected a historical mystery, and it just turned out to be backdrop for a whole other story.

The author chose to tackle quite a lot of major themes in this book all at once such as racism, abuse, women’s rights, gender identity and more which is something I haven’t seen delved into to this extent in this genre before. I don’t know much about this particular time period, so I can’t comment on how historically accurate this depiction was, but it was interesting to get this era’s viewpoint on these issues. However, I did feel that in the midst of all this, the plot fell to the wayside and became almost secondary to this arc.

The writing was good and it made this a quick read. I didn’t find the narrative to my taste, though, and it really should have come with content warnings, not least because it deals with so many heavy topics and rather explicitly so. I needed to take a break more than once.

The Library Thief had quite the intriguing cast of characters and all of them had something to hide. However, I didn’t find Florence’s character to be particularly likeable and many of her actions didn’t make much sense, first and foremost, why exactly she was so obsessed with Lady Persephone’s fate and so convinced that she was murdered when she had no reason to believe it. And then she started snooping around at night, reading personal correspondence and more, all when her fate depends entirely on this job which she just barely managed to secure. It all became rather hard to believe at this point and I quickly started losing interest. Character development in general was very rushed for the central characters and none of the secondary characters made much of an impression either.

As I said before, as the story progressed, it became less about the mystery and more about the various characters in my opinion, so when it was time for the reveal, it was so anticlimactic and rushed, like the last chapters were just trying to wrap everything up in time. As for Florence’s arc, it felt incomplete to me somehow and I would have liked a more concrete resolution to the whole story.

Overall, though the premise was interesting, I didn’t end up enjoying this book and it did not work for me. It was not bad for a debut, though not a book I’m likely to re-read, but I’m interested to see what this author will write next.

The title is misleading—this book is more involved than it first appears. I thought it was going to be a simple Gothic mystery involving a book thief, but it covers much deeper issues regarding racism, homosexuality, sexual manipulation and assault, unwed mothers, and women’s rights in Victorian England. There were so many social issues crammed in here that the mystery was almost incidental. Still, an intriguing story with a very forward thinking main character.

I must preface this review with a note that I found the writing voice simultaneously compelling and difficult; I am sure I missed many literary and cultural references, which at times made reading on a bit of a struggle. In the manner of Victorian classics, the narrative follows the present and the past simultaneously; it’s not so much including flashbacks as constantly interweaving childhood memories with current events, and not a writing style I am used to or particularly enjoy.

The story is narrated in first person, past tense, by the protagonist, a white-passing nineteen-year-old Black Jamaican woman, in late Victorian England, fleeing some misfortune and landing herself into a worse bind.

Beware: generally, the language of the period; racism and racist slurs; phonetic accents to denote class; parental neglect and emotional abuse; off-the-charts misogyny; marital rape; rape on page; queerphobia; sex on page.

Like every good Gothic tale, the novel begins with the arrival of one Miss Florence Granger to the isolated Rose Hall estate; she’s there under false pretenses, in a last ditch effort at quasi-respectable survival. While she wasn’t quite sure what to expect, having never before visited a wealthy patron’s residence, she’s nevertheless shocked at finding the mansion virtually shut down, with black hangings over all the windows, and with the staff reduced to one groom and the cook to serve the lord of the manor.

“A sensible girl would just have laid there, given thanks and gone to sleep to get as much rest as possible before starting work the very next morning. The problem is, I’ve never been known to be sensible. … If the circumstances of Lady Persephone’s passing were honourable then the details surrounding her death would be more forthcoming. I smelled the whiff of scandal, and I just had to know what it was.” (Chapter 3)

And thus begin Florence’s adventures. She’s at the manor to repair, rebind, and otherwise conserve, a large number of valuable rare books within a short period of time, as Lord Belfield, once very wealthy indeed, is now in somewhat dire straits and must sell off some of the most valuable tomes in his collection. The library, a wondrous place full of knowledge and wonder, is always locked–and so is she, inside it, during the hours she works there.

“Lord Belfield spoke as if I had hiked myself up to a mountain of independence. But I was not safe. I had little security outside of the temporary benevolence he was seeing fit to bestow upon me.” (Chapter 9)

There is a vague sense of foreboding as Florence recounts her experiences during the first weeks of her employment at the manor, mostly stemming from the strangeness of the household, and the multitude of unanswered questions about the recent death of Lord Belfield’s wife. However, lest the reader gets used to that relatively mild feeling of discomfort, Florence adds the occasional reminder of “how much worse” she would experience later on–starting with the introduction of Sir Chester, her employer’s cruel and abusive younger brother, and continuing with the realization of how much she had originally underestimated Lord Belfield’s ruthlessness.

“I got chills around him because of how he could slip from charming benevolent to all-seeing punisher in the space of one conversation. He enjoyed the power of his position as Lord of Rose Hall.” (Chapter 16)

The worldbuilding is very careful, from the physical spaces to each character’s manner of speech, to the imperial influences that reach from the spices in the kitchen to Lord Belfield’s financial reversals. Because, as it turns out, the family wealth had been built on sugar plantations, tea, and the slave trade, and like so much of British aristocracy after abolition, the brothers had yet to figure out how to replenish their coffers.

However, there’s such a thing as too much historic detail when its inclusion doesn’t move the story forward, such as when Florence spends an afternoon at a suffragists’ lecture.

And even though Florence muses about everything, from love to sexuality to politics to religion, for page upon page upon page, to the point where the book drags on, there’s little character growth over the course of the story.

Despite the precariousness of her situation, there’s an innate arrogance in Florence, stemming from both her intellect and her education; she is better read than most everyone around her, and had assumed that made her worldly, if not wise. It takes Florence some time to realize just how complex the relationships between the people around her truly are, though once she does, she accepts them without judgement.

Having been raised by her white father and grandmother in Manchester, Florence was constantly exposed to the racism of the white people around her; from those who wonder whether Black people have tails to those who believe in their ‘innate’ and ‘excessive’ sexuality–which naturally makes them a danger to everyone around them. She is therefore surprised to learn that the late Lady Persephone’s lady’s maid was a Black woman who enjoyed a not-small degree of privilege within the household during all the years of the marriage–and even more to learn of her own ancestry.

I can see what the author was going for with the character and the story, and I appreciate the breadth of queer representation in it; the execution as a whole just didn’t quite work for me.

This novel is very much historical fiction, and as such, it lacks the feeling of “righting of the universe” that I get from genre fiction; even the solution to the mystery of Lady Persephone’s death felt flat. Florence suffers much, first at the hands of her father, then at the hands of Sir Chester, but so do practically all the other women in the story. Surviving long enough to get away to face an uncertain future in a provably cruel world, with nothing but a bit of money, just doesn’t feel like justice.

Also, I was quite confused by the honorifics. The late wife of Lord Francis Belfield is referred to by everyone, including him, as Lady Persephone, never Lady Belfield. Why? Meanwhile, his younger brother is Sir Chester? And his wife is referred to as Lady Violet? Again I ask, why?

(It did not help my reading experience that the ARC had some weird formatting issues, from arbitrary line breaks in the middle of a sentence, to equally random spaces inserted in the middle of words, or the occasional letter floating above the rest of the text; the non-existent table of contents was just insult added to injury.)

The Library Thief gets a 7.00 out of 10

I really enjoyed this Victorian Era mystery. Florence is a woman ahead of her time and I loved that. This story has a little bit of everything; scandal, mystery and drama. There’s an aspect that I really love about the book but if I say I don’t want to ruin it by saying it. I look forward to reading more from this author.

First off, thank you NetGalley for granting me access to read The Library Thief as an ARC.

I am sad to report that this book is not for me. The Library Thief follows Florence, the main character, trying to find her way in the world. She becomes the keeper of many, many secrets. I don’t know that I really liked a single aspect of this book. If it weren’t for being an ARC and needing an honest review I would’ve marked as DNF and not have put myself through this whole book. It was a struggle to get through. I tried really hard to keep an open mind about real things that happened back then, but the woke-ness felt forced for the majority of the book. It was to the point of cringy-ness. And honestly the way it was written about was extremely modern feeling to me. If you want a book that dwells on drama and sexuality/gender politics, this one might be for you. It was not for me as I disagree with the majority of the things that were talked about. I wish I would’ve known more about this one before I applied. Last thoughts: did I miss something? Or does this book not even really relate to its title at all? “The Library Thief” seems so off, I was not expecting to read about what I read about from the title. The biggest relation is Florence fixing library books. Or… I must’ve missed something.

Content Warnings: rape, gender politics, mild open door scenes

First off: if you haven't yet read the publisher's blurb for the The Library Thief at the top of its GoodReads page, DON'T. There's a spoiler in it that will have a significant effect on how you experience the unfolding of the plot.

That said...

The Library Thief is neither a full-on mystery nor a full-on Gothic, but it has elements of both and makes for an engaging read. Florence, a bookbinder's daughter who hopes to work in the same field—and who has been banished from her home—takes on a job doing major repairs on a Lord's rare book collection. A job that just happens to come with room and board.

Florence is living in an uneasy, liminal space. No longer welcome at the not-all-that-welcoming home in which she was raised, she's now living on the "downstairs" side of the upstairs-downstairs divide. When Lord Belfield tells her she should give up her dreams of attending university or making a living binding and repairing books, that becoming a governess would be a great step up for her and probably as high as she can hope to go, she smiles politely and nods. His "generosity" in employing Florence is the only thing standing between her and homelessness.

There are tensions and a mystery in Lord Belfield's home. His younger brother, furious at not being the heir, is constantly asking for money and urging Belfield to sell family heirlooms. The brother also feels free to force his sexual "favors" on any woman with a class standing lower than his. The mystery involves the death of Lord Belfield's wife, who apparently went out walking in the middle of the night and fell from a local bridge. Out of respect to Belfield, the death isn't being investigated by police, but it is fodder for lots of local gossip. Most locals are happy to accused Lady Belfield's lady's maid—who just happened to be Black—because, you know, "they're not like us."

This gives you a good sense of all that's roiling beneath the surface in this book. As Florence becomes convinced Lady Belfield was murdered and begins her own hunt for the culprit, her situation grows increasingly dangerous.

If you enjoy mysteries/Gothics with independent heroines who are willing to take all sorts of risks and if you enjoy rooting for downstairs in that upstairs-downstairs divide, you're in for a treat with The Library Thief.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Written as a narrative from Florence’s point of view, the book delves into race and sexual orientation as well as women’s rights in the 1890’s. The book is well written with characters that have multiple facets some with more depth than others. Florence is a spitfire, however there wasn’t enough background about Baxter to gain much understanding. The men were truly despicable as I’m sure the author intended.

Set in 1896 this is a book about Florence who lived with her father who was a bookbinder. She was sent away from her home after her father found her in a compromising position with an anarchist. Being an intrepid woman though, Florence steals her father's bookbinding tools and a letter from Lord Bandfield asking her father to come to his house to repair some books in his collection . When she gets there she becomes friends with the footman Waverly and somewhat with the cook Baxter. Florence learns that the lord is a widower and there is a question about his wife Penelope's death near the river. This is a great mystery keeping the reader involved and wanting to keep reading. After a break in in the library while Lord Banfield's sister in law is visiting, the mystery gets even deeper. Florence eventually learns about Sybil, Penelope's sister whom everyone thought was her maid. Eventually the mysteries are solved but being a good reviewer I am not going to tell you how they are.

This book has a great concept but the language felt forced and did not always make sense. I felt the author was trying too hard to mimic the Victorian era. I would have preferred the descriptions not convey two or three ideas in one sentence; it made the book weighted down and not enjoyable to read. It felt like a burden and I want to relax into my reads. Had the author chosen simpler language I think the plot would have benefited greatly,

I am usually an easy sell on all things historical fiction and especially if you throw in a library/librarian element. However I seem to be on a bad run of just not for me books lately and this one just wasn't grabbing my attention. Life is too short and I decided to move on after only a few chapters. Might be this is one better read in print since I wasn't loving the narrator. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an early digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I'd like to start by saying my low review has nothing to do with any of the "woke" subject matters others are complaining about—I feel like these topics are important to have in historical fiction and in our writings. Very disheartened to see so many folks reviewing it low for that reason.

That being said, The Library Thief was just not for me. I found the story dragged beyond belief—I kept looking at the pages and wondering how I still had *that* much more to go. I think the writing, in my opinion, wasn't strong enough to keep me engaged the way I should have been. There was a lot of telling instead of showing. The pacing was also incredibly off—we spent so much time on certain aspects but glossed over crucial moments and relationship-building.

I also just never connected with the characters in the way I wanted to. I don't know—I was just very disappointed with this book. And it's only been a few weeks since finishing but I was struggling to even remember basic plot points to write the review, which is never a good sign.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The characters were well-developed and the setting was described in such detail that you felt like you were right there with Florence as she uncovered the mysteries of the Belfield house. The plot twists were unexpected and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Florence's journey of self-discovery and determination to uncover the truth was truly inspiring. I couldn't put this book down and I can't wait to see what other stories this author has in store.

Amazing, atmospheric and diverse. I don't think I could sing enough praises on this book. The only thing I would give as a negative is that the plot does seem to drag; but the journey was important to the story. I like slower-paced books so it wasn't a negative for me but something that others may see as one. I enjoyed this so much and thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. My blog tour post is also up on my blog now.

Florence’s father is a bookbinder who returned home to Manchester from Jamaica with a baby for him and his mother to raise. Growing up with a father that seemed to despise everything about her from her fuzzy hair to her inquisitive nature Florence used books to feed her curiosity and fill in the space that loneliness created. After Florence’s father found her bringing shame to their family, she was thrown out with nowhere to go. When Florence intercepts her father’s mail, she found a letter requesting his expertise to restore a collection of rare books. After talking her way into the job Florence stumbles across a diary that belongs to the late lady of the house. As Florence reads the diary, she discovers there are many secrets in the house that she suspects lead to a murder that was covered up as a suicide. Now Florence is determined to find out what happened to Persephone Belfield.
I love a good historical fiction. This was a captivating story about a woman who was cast out by the only family she had ever known and found herself discovering things about herself she never knew while entering a whole new world of secrets and lies. This book starts off with a scandal but doesn’t tell you what the scandal is, so you have to patiently wait for it to be disclosed while also trying to figure out what happened to the late Lady Persephone. The path I thought the story would take was not at all where the book went, but I was very pleased by that. There were several different themes in this book from passing, LGBTQ+ representation, survival, and friendship.
Florence had such a hard time and my heart break for her, so I was glad she was able to find some sort of solace in the end. I did shed a tear or two in the end for Florence and all she had to go through. I enjoyed the mystery behind what happened to Lady Persephone. This was a very complicated story with complex characters who were all just doing what they needed to do to survive in a world that deemed them unworthy whether it was because of the color of their skin, their gender, or their sexual preference. This was a great debut novel and I look forward to seeing what this author writes next.
Content Warning: sexual assault

Thank you to Hear Our Voices for my ARC copy! This review contains my personal thoughts and opinions.

"The Library Thief" by Kuchenga Shenjé is a departure from my usual reading preferences as it is historical fiction, and I am more of a romance reader. However, I found myself drawn into the quite interesting narrative that unfolded.

The storyline was certainly engaging, maintaining my interest throughout as I was eagerly waiting to solve the mystery. Although the main plot was captivating, there were a few side stories that seemed tangential in the grand scheme of things. I also wondered why the title was named as such for most of the book.

I enjoyed most of the characters as they all were unique. The main character, Florence, was such a spitfire, and I was rooting for her the whole time. As the story unfolded, I became increasingly invested in the characters and what would happen to them. I also felt that the ending was pretty satisfying, which I appreciated.

Overall, "The Library Thief" was a good, solid read. For people who enjoy historical fiction and mysteries, I think they will definitely enjoy this one.

I am a sucker for historical fiction and stories involving libraries. The book starts with a scandal; although you don't immediately know what the scandal is, it's not hard to guess, given the time period and she's a woman. She intercepts what turns out to be a life-changing missive, taking Florence to Rose Hall.

Lord Belfield is just as mysterious as the library of Rose Hall. He is recently widowed, but there are rumors about how his late wife died. There was so much mystery and intrigue that I didn't know what to do with myself. This is such a multi-faceted book that is dynamic and hard-hitting. Shenjé covered a multitude of heavy-hitting topics (that are still relevant today), and she did it with grace.

The complexity of the characters kept me glued to the story. I just adored Wesley. His willingness to accept Florence and befriend her was just powerful. He was the much-needed friend who had his own secret—another heavy-hitting topic.

It was refreshing to read a historical fiction that wasn't war-based. I cannot believe this is Shenjé's debut novel. If she's doing all this with her DEBUT novel, I want to read her school papers because, my God, can she tell a story!

This book transported me to Victorian England while weaving a tale of mystery, scandal, and self-discovery against the backdrop of a remote estate and its mysterious inhabitants. Florence Granger, a young woman disowned by her father, finds herself entangled in a web of secrets as she undertakes the task of restoring Lord Francis Belfield's rare book collection at Rose Hall.

Shenjé's debut novel offers a setting reminiscent of classic Gothic mysteries (i.e., Victoria Holt) that drew me into a world filled with intrigue and tension. From the moment Florence arrives at Rose Hall, the sense of foreboding is evident, setting the stage for a compelling narrative filled with twists and turns.

The novel explores complex themes such as racism, colorism, sexual abuse, and gender identity within the confines of Victorian society. Shenjé adeptly confronts these issues, providing a thought-provoking examination of the social norms and prejudices of the time. I found it quite “uncomfortable” at times to read.

I did find myself struggling a bit with the execution of the plot. The story became overly complicated and somewhat tedious.
Still, "The Library Thief" is a captivating read with its haunting narrative and fresh take on the Victorian mystery genre.

I received an advance copy from the publisher. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is a title I was invited to read. It was a little outside of my typical wheelhouse, but I said I would give it a try. The writing is solid and the concept an interesting one, although I must confess that I found it slower going than I hoped. On the whole, it wasn't for me.

The cover of this book is what drew me to the book. The story ended up being something different than I was expecting. To me it doesn’t really feel like a gothic mystery. It’s more a tale of enlightenment.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I'm so sorry but I did not enjoy this book at all. It fell so short for me.

I love historical fiction but this one just did not pull me in or hold me. I found it lacking in so many ways.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

3 stars and that is up from 2.5