Description

A charmingly subversive novel about a library in 1950s England, by the acclaimed author of The Cleaner of Chartres

Sylvia Blackwell, a young woman in her twenties, moves to East Mole, a quaint market town in middle England, to start a new job as a children’s librarian. But the apparently pleasant town is not all it seems. Sylvia falls in love with an older man – but it’s her connectionto his precocious young daughter and her neighbours’ son which will change her life and put them, the library and her job under threat.

How does the library alter the young children’s lives and how do the children fare as a result of the books Sylvia introduces them to?

Publisher Review

The Librarian will wring the heart of anyone who fell in love with books as a child. It is a hymn to the power of children's literature...delightful * The Times * A nostalgic treat...involving and hopeful * Mail on Sunday * No one can dig down into the shrouded recesses of the human heart quite as forensically as Vickers * Sunday Times * Vickers writes of relationships with undaunted clarity -- Adam Phillips Vickers lays bare the inner workings of one family, possibly every family, with an often disconcerting clarity * The Times on 'Cousins' * Vickers' real skill as a story teller is in allowing each distinct voice to contribute to a complete, or as complete as can be, picture of one family... the pace gathers, making for a deeply poignant climax * Financial Times on 'Cousins' * Quirky and charming * Love It! * This beautifully crafted novel is a tribute to the power of books * S Magazine, Sunday Express * Excellent... a period tale of sentimental education, it's deliciously readable, with a clever epilogue zooming into the present day for a last gasp surprise * Daily Mail *