Kate is a fantastic author and I really enjoyed this book. The story was compelling and kept me entertained throughout. Another top book by a top author!

Another wonderful book by Kate Thompson, who is fabulous at creating worlds of charming characters set amongst the horrid times of the second world war. Kate Thompson has a flair for taking the reader into the scenes she creates and taking us on an enjoyable ride.

I loved reading this book about WW2. The history really came alive for me. A super read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

The Wartime Book Club by Kate Thompson is an achingly beautiful story set in the Channel Islands during World War II. Not only are blackout shades and food rationing necessary but innocent lives are constantly discarded in horrendous ways. The historical details are thoroughly researched and the novel is based on a true story which makes it even more harrowing and heroic. In addition to constant fear and sorrow are also snippets of romance, loads of courage, close bonds of friendship and intriguing information on what Nazis deemed to be problematic books. Talk about fascinating!

Dear friends Grace and Bea are horrified when Nazis occupy the islands for many reasons. But one which concerned them in particular was the banning of books. They realized the importance of securing, circulating and hiding them to bring spots of joy into otherwise desperate lives. It was a big part of the Resistance and the women risked their lives to do it. Their book club must have been the only bright spot for so many! Their empathy and understanding are evident in their calling. I love the banned book blurbs at the beginning of each chapter and the riveting information at the end of the book. Details like this make a good book great. The writing itself is gorgeous and the actions of the brave crushed my heart in the best way.

Snap this one up if you are looking for that WWII Historical Fiction with substance. It captivated me and left me breathless at times.

My sincere thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this stellar and unforgettable novel.

I have read many books by this author and really enjoyed them. This book set in Jersey at the time of the occupation. Some of the book I found sad and upsetting because of the regime. I knew about the occupation, but did not realize what they got up to. I will not mention here as I do not want to spoil anything. Apart from the story Kate includes quite a bit about the history from her research.

I can recommend this book. 5*

What a gorgeous read. Based round the library a lovely story unfolding inthe backdrop of WWII. Great characters. Would definitely recommend this book.

I love reading books that deal with a subject you have read lots of (WW2), but you can still learn new things that happened. The Channel Islands involvement in the war has not been written about as often as it should. The islanders were put through a lot and Kate Thompson was again able to show us that through her Book Club. We touched on many different themes, I was not aware of the forbidden books.
The main library in St. Helier is the lynchpin of the stories that are told by various islanders who are trying to outwit the Germans by helping the Jewish community and allied prisoners but also trying to have a 'normal' as possible life.
The author does not sugar sweet the harshness or punishments that the some islanders have to endure, so we get a real feel of the war that was happening on the Channel Islands.
Grace just wanted to be a librarian, enjoying her books and the people who came to the library, the war changed that and her life was changed.....by circumstances, friendships and determination not to be barraged by the Germans.

A good book.

I feel like there have been lots of books about the occupation of the Channel Islands during WW2 and how books helped people through the dark times. This one did feel slightly different as it was focussed on the library and resistance more than an actual book club and I very much liked all of the primary sources that were listed at the end of the book.
At times the story felt a little stretched, with key points passed over quickly and other parts going on for longer than the actual time represented but that might be a reflection of how time does funny things in times of stress.
This will make a good companion piece to the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and nice that it is set on Jersey.

Bea and Grace live on Jersey, postwoman and librarian respectively. The world is their oyster. Until the Germans arrive. It is 1940 and the Channel Isles are occupied. The world as they know it will now change.

Bea and Grace become involved in making sure that books can still be read, even the ones that are banned. However, a resistance movement starts up across the islands, and it seems that even Bea and Grace will be pulled into circumventing the rules in a bid to defy the Germans.

This book whilst telling the story of these two women, more importantly shows the nature of occupation. The need for food, for medicine and for survival. For those neighbour’s who turned against each other, forbidden house guests, forbidden romances and forbidden books. The author has not made this a nice book, it has not covered up the harshness of the occupation and I felt I was living the experience with these characters they were that well crafted.

The author has managed to bring together the simplest of things – the reading of books and given it such a background to a wonderful story. The back story and information on the occupation at the end of the book is worthy of your time reading to get even the slightest of impact that this event in history made.

I loved Kate Thompson’s last novel, The Little Wartime Library, inspired by the real library set up in a London underground station during the Second World War. There was a nod to Clara and Ruby who ran the Bethnal Green tube station library in this book which made me smile. The Wartime Book Club is also inspired by real events but this time takes place on the occupied Channel Island of Jersey.

From the very beginning of this book I was invested in the main characters and concerned for their safety. Despite being very different kinds of people, quiet librarian Grace and feisty postwoman Bea are the best of friends. In their own ways they do what they can to survive and to oppose the German occupation. For Grace this means hiding banned books or occasionally distributing them. Each chapter begins with a paragraph or two about books or authors which were banned by the Nazi regime which is quite eye-opening. Bea’s defiance is perhaps more risky as she has access to many letters, some of which she hides and some of which she delays delivery of. She is also rather outspoken at times to the German officials which puts her in grave danger.

This book has clearly been so well researched and I learned a lot about what happened in Jersey during the occupation. There were a huge number of German soldiers on the island in comparison to the size of its population and with it being a relatively small island, there wasn’t the possibility for resistance on the scale we are familiar with in France. Despite this, many islanders showed great courage and managed to hide and aid people such as allied soldiers or Jewish people, However, there were also informers in what was once a close community which was a surprise to me.

Kate Thompson shows that the library remained the beating heart of the community, a place people could come together to share their thoughts. As a result of the occupation, the library was not getting its usual deliveries of new books from the UK but many islanders donated their own books. There weren’t enough books to form a more traditional book club so instead the islanders met and listened to books being read aloud which they could then discuss. Double the number of books were borrowed as there would usually have been in peacetime, which shows how vital books were in offering an escape from reality. The library really was ‘a refuge for tattered souls’.

Kate Thompson does not shy away from showing the harsh realities of life in occupied Jersey. The people lived in fear and were starving. It was a struggle to survive, not just because of the threat from the occupying forces but because of the lack of food and medicines. The horrors and cruelties inflicted on the islanders were awful to read about. However, the author also showed that the Germans soldiers were not all evil, that there was a humanity too. Just like the allies, many German boys (and they were just boys mostly) were only fighting because they had to. This is particularly clear in the letters they write home to their families and sweethearts where we see they have the same hopes and fears and they love just like everyone else.

I feel I have rambled on quite a bit in this review but there is so much to talk about in the book. I would urge you to read the author’s additional notes at the end of the book too where you will find out more about the stolen letters which inspired part of the storyline and read about the real people many of the characters were based on. This book has made me want to go to Jersey and visit the many places dedicated to keeping the story of the bravery of the islanders alive.

Bravery, sacrifice, friendship and romance are strong themes in this inspiring and emotional book. The Wartime Book Club is a fantastic read showing the resolve, courage and conviction of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

Please do check out Kate Thompson's podcast From the Library With Love where you will be able to hear more about the Channel Islands under occupation, the Bethnal Green underground library and many more brilliant episodes about libraries and books.

The compassion, devotion and dedication that Kate Thompson has for her subject matter radiates from every page of this wonderful and absorbing story. The Wartime Book Club is set on the Channel Island of Jersey during the German occupation of Word War Two and right from the opening page, this is a story of resilience, courage and fortitude and once I started reading I found it quite hard to put it down. It was evident so much research went into all aspects of the book as the past is vividly and realistically brought to life. It’s not overly heavy on details but rather strikes the perfect balance between what the daily life was like for the islanders and the more emotional turmoil and suffering that was endured.

This is a story of hope and bravery and acts of resistance be they small or large at a time when so many suffered from hunger, malnutrition, fear and suffocation. Kate Thomspon knows her subject matter thoroughly and she has paid a great homage to the islanders who went through five years of Nazi occupation seeing their island transformed from a beautiful place where many holiday makers came annually to an island cut off from Britain and left to endure on their own.

June 1940 and the peaceful tranquillity of Jersey is shattered as the Germans invade and life as the islanders knew it is now altered. Fast forward to 1943 and Grace is the acting chief librarian as Ash, who formerly held the position, has been sent to an internement camp. So many people left the island prior to the invasion and the hardy souls remain and life is now dominated by curfews, restrictions and rationing. ‘The iron grip over the most petty details of their lives had tightened, the tentacles of Nazification slowly spreading’. But what they do still have are books, despite the Nazi’s implementing a list of banned books. Banned books are detailed at the start of each chapter which I thought was a brilliant inclusion and quite frankly I was astonished at some of the books they chose to ban and the reasons why.

Grace is a remarkable young woman who only grows in strength the further the story progresses. She wages her own war with books not bombs and hides banned books in a locked secret cupboard within the library and also travels around the island delivering books to people who need to escape from their daily existence under the Nazi’s rule. Over the course of the war the actual number of books checked out of the library increased rather than decreased which shows how powerful books and the written word can be. Reading was the only form of joy and solace the islanders had given so much else was banned and they cherished this intellectual freedom very carefully.

Grace is a steadfast and hard worker who wants to do anything to overcome the totalitarian regime that she is living under but she is deeply affected when her brother Jimmy is killed trying to escape the island. She knows that with one wrong step what she is up to with the books may be discovered and Wolf, the head of the Nazi’s on the island, seems to be always lurking around every corner determined to outwit the islanders and enforce punishments. I thought this quote brilliantly summed up Grace and the work she did, ‘If a book is medicine then a librarian is the medic, dispensing books like prescriptions to soothe a tattered soul’, and that is what she did and was so very proud to do. She decides to form a book club at the library and as they do not have enough copies of books to go around she instead reads from books and people gather to listen and to escape from the Nazi’s rule for a few short hours even though there are strict rules and regulations around the running of the club.

It becomes like a form of therapy for the islanders and we are introduced to many characters as we are through Grace delivering books. Yet, at no time did it feel like the plot was overwhelmed with characters and their little sub plots. Instead each person mentioned, and what they were doing in terms of clandestine resistance activities, deserved their place in the story and only served to enhance it. For Grace there is also some romance but to say anything more than that would ruin the story but it was handled very well and I felt the push and pull and turmoil that she was going through and I questioned given the circumstances could love eventually win out?

Bea was the complete opposite to Grace who at times could be quite reserved as she under estimated the power of the work she was doing. Bea was fiery and impulsive and someone who would do anything to thwart the Germans plans. She rode close to the wind in everything she did and enjoyed playing a cat and mouse game with Wolf trying always to stay one step ahead of him. She is shattered when her fiancée Jimmy’s (Grace’s brother) plans to escape the island end in disaster and she doesn’t know how she will pick up the pieces but try she must. Bea works for the postal service which proves useful as she starts to engage in her own acts of resistance and all I can say is she was so brave and resourceful in what she did. For if discovered the consequences were surely going to be dire. I think she did what she did because she was fuelled by anger. Anger at the loss of Jimmy and rage that her sister Nancy was seen as a Jerrybag and in cahoots with the enemy. This is an aspect of the story that is very divisive, and I suppose unless you were there and living through it you do not have the option of making a choice as to whether what Nancy did was right or wrong.

I believed in what Bea did and felt she was right in her actions as she was thinking both of the long term and what she could do right at that moment to warn and save others. Bea has another issue to deal with but as she always pushes away her feelings she does the same with this and perhaps this is not the right course of action as there will be consequences. She was very much torn between a rock and a hard place and society too at the time had its own rules regarding what she was going through which only made me feel for her all the more. There is extreme hardship and horror that befalls both Bea and Grace that will affect you deeply and you just hope that they can both weather the storm and their friendship will emerge stronger than ever.

The Wartime Book Club is Kate Thompson at her very best and each time I read one of her books I am reminded just what a good author she is and that she one of my very favourite authors in the historical fiction genre. Grace and Bea’s stories are just two of many at the time and I really appreciate the author’s notes at the end which in fact read like a book in itself again showing how the author wished to highlight the bravery and dedication of so many in the face of such adversity, hardship and cruelty. So many islanders faced devastating moral choices. The repercussions of which they had to live with for the rest of their lives but they did everything in their limited power to thwart the Nazi regime and they should never be forgotten or their contribution to the war effort downplayed. The book club became a tour de force and developed into a literary support group all thanks to Grace and it was a ray of light and hope in the darkest of times and it brings a smile to your face. In fact, despite the tough subject matter and themes explored in some ways this is an uplifting read thanks to the resourcefulness, resolve, courage and conviction of the main characters. This was a brilliant and compelling read with two main characters as well as the island itself that will live on long in your mind once you have turned the final page. It’s a highly impressive read and definitely recommended.

Another great read from Kate the research that’s gone into this book is outstanding. It’s about the people in Jersey under German rule during World War Two. The way it’s written you are drawn into it and you feel all the emotions that the brave men and women went through during this difficult period. I loved how at the start of each chapter there was a little piece first about all he wonderful book that got banned by the Nazi’s. I remember reading Emil and the detectives and the Hobbit at school never realising what had happened to them during the war. After the book ended there was also some wonderful memories from the real people that suffered all this themselves. I think this would be a good book for the younger generations to read to get an insight into what the older generations went through. A well deserved 5 stars.

The Wartime Book Club - @katethompsonauthor 📚

Set in Jersey during World War Two, with the library as the main focus and how small acts of resistance can’t make a big difference. I loved the characters in this book! How they were all there for each other and really banded together. Both Bea and Graces friendship was so strong.
It was a really heartbreaking story too and I really liked how it was based loosely on real events.

Highly recommend if you enjoy historical fiction.

Thanks net galley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this title. It is set in in Jersey during the Nazi occupation.

Grace is the town Librarian battling to keep the library going despite Nazi restrictions around approved books. Bea is her best friend and works for the post office.
Between the pair of them they try to weave a path of resistance. The story is populated with a mix of fictional and real life people from this time in history on the island.

It is a well written story that builds tension as Grace and Bea walk that fine line. The depiction of libraries and the power of reading to offer a chance to escape the horrors of occupation and the transformative power of reading is really positive.

It will appeal to fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

I love books. And I love books set in Nazi occupied Europe, so a book about books in Nazi occupied Europe was obviously going to be a winner for me.

The Wartime Book Club did not disappoint. I didn't know a lot about the occupation of Jersey, but feel like I know a bit more now.

I liked that the characters were mainly either real people, or based on real people. The book was meticulously researched, and any changes to the facts are explained at the end.

I also really liked that each chapter started with the author and title (if relevant) of a book that was banned by the Nazis. Although I was shocked to find that the Allies also banned books in post-war Germany!

Kate Thompson has a new fan!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for a review.

I loved this book! Set during the occupation of Jersey during the war, the book tells the story of quiet resistance and small acts of defiance. As the title suggests, it is about books and the power that books have to transport people, particularly during difficult times.

I cannot recommend this book enough.

Telling the story of the occupation of the Channel Islands during WW2, the author does not shy away from the truth. Two young women, best friends Grace and Bea, tell the story of the occupation and the islanders experiences. The authors research really shines throughout the story- the letters, the resistance and the collaboration of the locals all form part of Grace and Bea's experiences and she does not shy away from the harsh truth of some people's actions. This is a gritty story of life under occupation. I loved the way that banned books and authors were featured at the beginning of each chapter, highlighting the true history of the Nazi regime's cruel censorship of literature, and the way in which the local library becomes a lifeline in an otherwise grey and dismal life. This is a brilliant read, highlighting an important aspect of British history. Highly recommended.

The unthinkable happened when the Germans invaded Jersey in 1940. The community had no help and had to think of ingenious ways to disrupt the occupation as much as they could. The book is based on true stories passed down and documented. The author as ever has done a brilliant job of bringing the stories to life. Some are uplifting and some are harrowing but it all makes for a brilliant compelling and entertaining read.

Brilliant from start to finish

If you haven't read the first one then read that too.

The author has taken situations and people from the past, women who have lived through trying times yet still survived and it's a pretty amazing read. Add books and bookshops and clubs and I am hooked.

Read this, you will not be sorry!

Thank you for the chance to read this ARC in return for my honest opinion.

Like others I had little idea of life in the Channel Islands during the ‘Occupation’ though I had read a non-fiction book by someone who had lived on the Islands at the start of the War then left to begin nurse training at my training hospital in London.

I read before bed and this really isn’t a book to read at that time - consequently it took me much longer to read than many books but this did not detract from the well written prose.

It was heartbreaking at times, the duplicity of some of the Islanders, who must have been at the end of their tethers I suppose, really shocked me. But it showed how well researched the book was and for this the author should be praised.
This book should be recommended to all those that have an interest in the effects of the war in WW2