The Little Wartime Library Kate Thompson, by
Hachette
Based on the real-life secret library that ran beneath London’s disused Bethnal Green underground station which was a halfcompleted stop when war broke out. Open from 5.30-8pm every day, doors were locked when the air-raid siren sounded – captive audiences down below. Fictional characters Clara and Ruby run the community service, which houses a theatre, nursery, bunk beds and a cafe. East Enders defied Churchill’s orders not to shelter in tube stations – though at 78 feet below ground, Bethnal Green was really safe, dubbed the “Iron Lung”. But countless books were destroyed in 1940 when a bomb hit the library. One of the most rewarding resistance stories of the war.