Review of the Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

Cover of Madeline Martin's The Librarian Spy

This book is an exciting look at the hidden lives of Librarians during WWII and the role they played in preserving and forwarding secret intelligence to the Allies. It is then countered by the lives of resistance workers in France working tirelessly to produce some of those very works that are being preserved. 

The Librarian 

Ava is a young Librarian working in the rare book room of the Library of Congress when she is recruited to work in a special project in Lisbon. This is a great opportunity to help the war effort and hopefully bring her brother, who raised her, home sooner along with all the other brave soldiers. During her time in Lisbon, she meets many interesting characters including other Librarians working to collect other nations intelligence via newspapers
and written works, refugees, and even spies.

Pg. 148 Ava's Purpose as quoted by one of the Refugees

 One of the people Ava meets is James, who works at the British Embassy, she meets him often to collect newspapers for her job to preserve and believes he is doing the same thing. James introduces her to many people including a Jewish man who is able to procure some Resistance papers for Ava. This romance is well written into the book and doesn't seem force to the story by Martin, it works nicely.

The Resistance Worker 

Elaine, a French housewife, was swept up into the resistance one night after her husband was taken by the Nazis and she found a young woman in need of a new name. The young woman Elaine helped was a Jew and looking for a way to stay safe, by using Elaine’s (or Helen’s) name she was safe [SPOILER readers later find that this is true the end of the War with a thank you from the woman to her returning the original name card]. This one act launches Elaine’s stint in the Resistance and work not only as a delivery worker but eventually a printer of the French paper Combat that Ava actually preserves connecting the two. 

The Lives Lived 

The two women are surrounded by a cast of many different characters who are true to life from lovers to friends. Each finds a new life in their own way. Ava finds love in her new world in Lisbon while Elaine finds a purpose, even in loss. The women are real and vibrant, and the reader can feel their heartache from the page. Martin elegantly details the ravages of war from two different perspectives. Ava experiences the opulence that is seen in Lisbon a city that is almost untouched by the War as a safe haven, while Elaine is in the thick of Occupied France experience rationing and a family that is torn apart. The reader is taken on the journey of a lost life with Elaine and her many companions while Ava is finding and discovering herself with only minor losses at the fringes of her circle. Ava mostly sees success, save for a few lost friends

Elain's Letter Returned. Image of Text

(SPOILER one that hits hard is the loss of a Jewish man who is refused a visa, a sad truth) while Elaine is met with loss at almost every turn from the start where we meet her with the loss of her husband to the Nazi invaders until the end where she seems to have lost most of her friends to the war.  

Review 

Overall, I recommend this book as an exciting story for anyone interested in WWII historical fiction or Librarian fiction. I connected with the women in the story as I am trying to find myself. The lives they lead are detailed well and in details that draw readers in by Martin. The stories are sad and delightful making it seem like you know them. I found the book a true delight to read.  

 

Reference 

Martin, M. (2022). The librarian spy. Hanover Square Press. 

Images taken of the book by me