Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Books can change lives, even in wartime. . .
When World War II breaks out, Carrie Anderson sets up a bookstall at her local train station in the hope of providing a sense of escapism for travellers, troops and evacuees.
Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and armed with a colourful array of Penguin paperbacks, Carrie’s business soon booms. And when she gifts a book to a dashing officer, an act of kindness becomes the beginning of Carrie’s very own love story.
But as war rages on, and Mike is posted abroad, Carrie’s world is turned upside-down.
With the help of her station community, and the power of her paperbacks, can Carrie find the strength to battle through?
Many thanks to Random House UK via NetGalley for my copy of The Little Penguin Bookshop to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Little Penguin Bookshop is a lovely, engaging, gentle and charming story from Joanna Toye. Initially, I did find it hard to get into as the plot as it was slow to get going but around the halfway point I felt the story found its rhythm and things picked up a lot. Set during World War Two we are introduced to Carrie Anderson and her family. It’s August 1939 and rumours of war abound as Hitler begins to extend his control beyond Germany. Carrie works with her father in their newsagent and stationery shop. All her life Carrie had wanted to be a librarian but there hadn’t been enough money for her to stay on and complete her school cert and now as her mother isn’t strong enough to work in the shop it’s Carrie that her father relies on. Prior to this she had worked in Boots and enjoyed it but she knows her duty and loyalty lies with her family.
Instantly you think that Carrie is kind, caring and compassionate and that perhaps boys are afforded more opportunities than girls. As her twin brother Johnnie is training to be a draughtsman with long term plans to become a pilot. It’s all he has ever longed for whereas Carrie’s dreams are put on the backburner but it’s not that her parents are being stern and strict with her rather than Johnnie. It’s more that was the role of women at the time but when war is declared all that changes and their lives will never be the same again. The terror is real for everyone. Suddenly, a gas mask has to be carried at all times, Anderson shelters come into use and every available piece of land is turned over to growing vegetables. Soon rationing is introduced and all those little luxuries that people took for granted are gone. Johnnie signs up for the R.A.F and is sent away for training. This will be the making of him as it has all he has dreamed about for many years. Yes, perhaps not under the circumstances of war but he is finally getting to put his love of planes and flying into practice. But what of Carrie, again here is where her loyalty shines through as she knows she can’t sign up and leave the town of Brockington as her mother would be sick with worry and its bad enough Johnnie going away without her daughter leaving too.
Carrie feels that she has to do something worthwhile during the war and it has to be close to home. Here is where her love of reading comes to play. All her life she has adored books and the escape that it offers her into other worlds. Books give her the experiences that she hasn’t had yet and perhaps won’t for god knows how long now that everyone’s lives have been interrupted and derailed thanks to the war. Her father had given her a little corner of the shop to sell books but it hadn’t been that successful but an idea strikes when she sees the book stall at Brockington station has been shut for some time. Charismatic Uncle Charlie (her father Norman’s brother) who at first seemed a bit of a wheeler dealer and liked some ducking and diving provides her with the funds to take over the stall. I was totally wrong in my initial assumptions of Charlie and over the course of the book I could see that he had a good heart and loved Carrie and her family as he had no children of his own. Charlie’s intentions were always good and he helped out in any way he could and if he hadn’t allowed Carrie to get started with the book stall than she would never have met the man who became the man of her dreams.
A varied cast of characters is introduced as Carrie establishes her stall at the station selling books, magazines, newspaper and bits of stationery. I loved getting to know all the characters but at times I felt we barely scratched the surface in getting to know them and their stories developed a little too late in the book. Bette runs the tea rooms with young girl Ruby who appears to be a bit airy fairy and more interested in chatting up troops than making cakes and teas. Bette could have been even more of a matriarch figure than she was throughout the book. I felt her role was underplayed a bit and that Carrie was more of that figure than Bette was to everyone at the station. Bette’s son Eric is a porter and despite thinking he wouldn’t be called up for war his papers soon arrive. Of course, Bette is anxious and hopes that he will just have work somewhere in Britain but her wishes don’t come to pass and things venture down a dangerous and worrying road for poor old Eric who I didn’t think was the strongest of men by any stretch.
Penny arrives to replace Eric as porter and Mr. Bayliss is not impressed that a woman has been sent to do a man’s work. Again this another example of men believing a woman’s place was in the home. Mr. Bayliss was arrogant and lazy and shied away from hard work and there was an awful side to him that I wished I hadn’t had to read about. Penny was a fabulous character but again I felt she was under used and I would have loved for a real deep friendship to have developed between herself and Carrie much earlier on. Penny is cheerful, resourceful and fiercely independent but she was definitely hiding something and to say she was an enigma would be an understatement. She wasn’t to be pushed around and there was a mystery surrounding her which I did have a feeling about. I was proven right but none the less she was a great addition to the story I just wanted more of her even though I know the main focus was on Carrie. Johnnie too had a vital role to play and I am glad the issues and problems he encounters in the R.A.F were brought to light and given this was only the start of the war there is a lot more that can be explored centring around Johnnie.
Carrie believes she can feed the troops minds through books as they pass through the station on their way to war and over time she grows in confidence and adores her job and all the people she meets be it a mother and daughter who make regular trips to London or simply soldiers passing through on their way to training or on leave. The title suggests it’s a book shop that is in operation but it’s a stall, but the Penguin books stated in the title do feature. I loved all the mentions of the different books Carrie was reading and what they meant to her and the recommendations that she made to others. This quote really summed up how Carrie felt about the power of books and the work that she was doing at a time when people needed distraction and escape from air raids and the constant fear of invasion. ’To escape into a book, to let it take you into another world for a while-it’s the greatest thing on earth’.
I did think there were chapters after the initial setting up of the stall where nothing much happened and there was a bit of repetition and the book stalled ever so slightly. But when Carrie meets officer Mike who is passing through the station and they converse over books that’s when the story picked up one again. It’s clear from the outset that although the meeting may be brief and subsequently she doesn’t see Mike until he pops up again several months later, that there is a connection between the pair. Carrie is smitten and falling fast for him as so many did during the terrible times of war as people never knew when a meeting would be their last so every opportunity was taken especially when it came to love. This could have seemed over the top and that lust or love developed too quickly but instead it felt natural and real.
Events on the continent take Mike away and Carrie must remain hopeful and steadfast that Mike will return safely to her and they can try and establish something concrete and long lasting. Plenty of angst, twists and turns, and despair ensue as the characters lives diverge and meet again thanks to the war. Without doubt, the second half of the book was by far stronger and I found myself really enjoying it. The ending has certainly left room for more from these characters as I wasn’t quite ready to leave them so I hope Joanna Toye has more in the works for Carrie and co who provided me with a delightful, interesting and appealing read.
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