Historical fiction set in London

Submitted: 30th January 2024

The London Bookshop Affair -Historical fiction set in London

A story about a bookshop and the haven it offers a person. A story of hope and secrets set against the Cold War.

Map of locations in The London Bookshop Affair

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : London

Author guide: Louise Fein

Genre: historical, inspired by true facts

Food and drink to accompany: nothing in the bookshop!

POSTCARD-1

#Bookreview

@thebooktrailer

A novel to transport you to London and the Cold War

Map of locations in The London Bookshop Affair

This really is one of the most insightful and compulsive books I have read in a long time. Set across two major timelines, this is a story set against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis in particular. An author who can blend history and people’s everyday lives this well has to be celebrated as it’s a wonderful way of immersing yourself in the same period as the people you’re reading about.

Celia was a character I loved from the off as she is working in an antiquarian bookshop. She has more ambition than just working here so she does what she can to better herself. In the meantime, a friend of hers finds something that leads Celia down a path of research and heartache. She starts to investigate the Resistance in France in WWII and becomes heavily involved with what she finds. Celia changes here – she has a purpose and she connects with the women in the past.

The way the author has taken true facts and blended them in to a story with such compelling characters is wonderful. The work of Celia and Daphne in the CND fighting against nuclear weapons was fascinating. I studied this period at Uni and I wish I had had this book then to really know what it was all about!

It was a treat to find out just what was the story behind the story and how true facts came to be in this novel. I can see why the author wanted to research it! She blends it expertly and the result is a fine, compelling novel with characters I am already missing.