The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin
Published in 2022        415 Pages

Content: * * * * (4.8)

I have mostly given up finding women’s fiction novels that are clean.  It is nigh unto impossible to find a book without explicit sex in it.  There’s a reason some people purposefully classify their book as a “closed-door romance” – it’s so you know you won’t be in the bedroom with them when everything is going down.  I was almost shocked to have no overtly sexual content, although some flirtatious behavior is present.  It serves a purpose, however.  What you do have to be careful of here is the violence.  This is set in the middle of WWII, blood and fighting is to be expected.  At times, it was slightly jarring as we do read a brief description of a dead body found after torture.  Why did I give this such a high content score then?  It’s true to life for one, and second, it really did surprise me that there was no sex involved.

Style: * * * *  (4.8)

I saw the word librarian and I just couldn’t help myself.  Call me sentimental, it was a good decision.  I have read books that called to me more, that didn’t allow me to sleep at night and didn’t care to let me put them down.  This was not quite that way, yet I still really enjoyed the mix of the plots and the two overarching storylines that eventually intertwine.  It is a bittersweet book.  I felt every emotion with the characters, felt as if I knew them, was with them.  I could see some of the plot twists coming, others I couldn’t.  The story was crafted well and the characters come with a few surprises that keeps the pace moving.

Overall Rating: * * * *  (4.8)

All in all, I would recommend this book to any of my library or WWII literature-loving readers.  This is a rare gem in women’s fiction, and it just so happens to involve a librarian in WWII.  Could it get any better?  Well, yes it can, there is still A Tale of Two Cities mind you.  Yet, I found this book to be a cozy read in my free time, but one that also dragged my soul through the dark period before France’s liberation from the Nazi stranglehold.  Though at times chilling, it is beautifully redeeming in its emphasis on the strength we can have in community and self-sacrifice.