*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Title: The Air Raid Book Club
Author: Annie Lyons
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
As the bombs began to fall, the book club kept their hopes alive...
London, 1938. Bookseller Gertie Bingham is facing difficult times, having just lost
her beloved husband, Harry, and with a lingering sadness at never having been
able to have a child of her own. Struggling to face running the bookshop she
and Harry opened together, Gertie is preparing to sell up and move away when
she is asked if she would be willing to take in a young Jewish refugee from
Germany. Gertie is unsure and when sullen teenager Hedy Fischer arrives, Gertie fears she has nothing left
to give the troubled girl.
But when the German bombers come and the lights go out over
London, Gertie and Hedy realise that joining forces will make them
stronger, and that books have the power to bring young and old together and
unite a community in need in its darkest hour...
The Air Raid Book Club is the latest novel
from USA Today bestselling author Annie Lyons and her first venture into the
world of historical fiction. It is a powerful story of friendship, fortitude, found
family, community and - at the heart of everything - the power of books.
At the heart of this story is an ode to the
power of literature. Chapters start with a quote from a famous novel or author
and the plot is centred around how books can connect communities and bring joy
in even the darkest of times. The prologue shares a beautiful bibliophilic
romance with Gertie meeting her future husband Harry in her family-run bookshop
and the couple bonding (and ultimately falling in love) over their shared love
of books. This bookish love story is later mirrored when one of the young booksellers
working at Bingham Books starts a romance with a local publisher’s representative.
Each chapter is filled with characters having lively discussions about the
latest books they have been reading and it is these books which provide a bit of
light against the darkness of Blitz-torn London. The story even has a dog
called Hemingway! As a bookworm, the entire novel felt like a big hug (even if
it did tear at my heartstrings on several occasions) and it was so clear that
this was all inspired by the author’s own love for literature.
Alongside the story of the bookshop, the
novel also tells the story of Hedy, a German Jewish teenager who leaves Germany
on the Kindertransport and is taken in by Gertie. Although Kindertransport children
have been featured in a range of other historical fiction novels, this is my first
time reading a story focused on the German Jewish teenagers displaced by the
war and this really set the novel apart from other works of a similar nature. I
loved seeing the relationship between Hedy and Gertie develop over the course
of the book, particularly through their initial bonding over a shared love of
literature, and it was a beautiful example of the found family trope within historical
fiction.
Annie Lyons writes incredible characters
with such depth and heart to them. Even the eclectic range of background
characters had well developed characterisation and I did find myself falling a
little bit in love with the entire community of that small London borough. It
would take me forever to go through all of the characters I connected with and
why I loved them so much but, aside from Gertie and Hedy, a particular shoutout
goes to Betty, Elizabeth, young Billy, Charles and the wonderful Uncle Thomas,
the self-proclaimed oldest bookseller in London. It was also fantastic to see some
LGBTQ+ representation within the story as this is so often missing from
historical fiction.
Although an ultimately very heartwarming
story, The Air Raid Book Club also covers more challenging subject-matter,
particularly through its powerful exploration of grief. Gertie is grieving the
loss of her beloved husband Harry and Hedy is processing the unknown fate of
her family as they are persecuted by the Nazis for being Jewish. The story also
covers Britian’s policy of internment during the Second World War, when tens of
thousands of UK resident German and Austrians were suddenly classed as ‘enemy
aliens’ and faced internment. This is an aspect of Second World War history we
often see crucially missed out of historical fiction, with most stories simply
sharing refugees coming to the UK from occupied Europe and immediately being able
to settle here without question, so it was wonderful to see this explored so
powerfully within the story.
The story is slower-paced at times but I
think this actually really worked to capture the everyday mundanity of life for
those on the Homefront over the six years of the war. This does make it a lighter
read compared to other Second World War historical fiction books but I don’t think
this takes away from the value of the book at all, it’s just something to be
mindful of if you tend to prefer action-packed fast-paced war novels.
Overall, The Air
Raid Book Club is a powerful and moving story which beautifully captures the
importance of books and their power to connect communities. I can’t help but
think it would make the most wonderful TV series or film and I was completely enchanted by the story and
the characters alike. It is truly astonishing that this is Annie Lyons’ first historical
fiction novel and I really do hope we see her work more in the genre in the
future. This is a must-read for both fans of historical fiction and anyone who
likes books about books. Is it too soon for me to read it again?
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