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The Librarian
In 1958, Sylvia Blackwell, fresh from one of the new post-war Library Schools, takes up a job as children's librarian in a run-down library in the market town of East Mole.
Her mission is to fire the enthusiasm of the children of East Mole for reading. But her love affair with the local married GP, and her befriending of his precious daughter, her neighbour's son and her landlady's neglected grandchild, ignite the prejudices of the town, threatening her job and the very existence of the library with dramatic consequences for them all.
Author
Author
Imprint
Penguin
ISBN
Publishing date
RRP (paperback)
Pages
978-0241330234
1 Nov. 2018
£8.99
400
The Librarian by Salley Vickers (2018). In 1958, Sylvia Blackwell took up a job as a librarian in a run-down library in the market town of East Mole to fire up the enthusiasm of the local children for reading. She quickly became a part of the local community - taking the next-door children to school and helping her landlady's granddaughter and neighbour Sam with their 11+. Sylvia also has an on/ off affair with the local GP, who has a strong-willed daughter. Salley Vickers has a passion for local libraries and how books were an important part of her upbringing and education and this comes through via Sylvia's enthusiasm but the book itself in my opinion was disappointing and lacking in substance compared to Salley Vickers earlier novels - Miss Garnet's Angel (2000), Instances of Number 3 (2001), The Cleaner of Chartres (2012). A good holiday read, but for me lacks the originality of her earlier novels. 5/10 Jo
The Librarian by Salley Vickers
The story centres on 24 year old Sylvia Blackwell's new life as a children's librarian in a rundown library in a small rural town in Wiltshire in 1958
The good
Sylvia is idealistic, motivated by her love of books and wants to spread the joy of reading
The references to lots of children's books
Slow-paced, which may reflect everyday life a bit more than "page turners"
The not-so-good
Too many characters which weren't developed, and many seemed like caricatures
Feels preachy, lots of societal issues and points raised, which aren't explored or developed, seem like they're just there for the sake of it
21st-century values and lens imposed on the 1950s
Predictable plot lines
3/10 Annette
Being a Librarian, I was really looking forward to reading The Librarian by Salley Vickers and I’d read some good reviews about it. But the author didn’t develop the characters sufficiently for my liking and there were a number of sub plots suggested but then abandoned throughout the book. Put simply, it was a great idea for a book but it felt like Vickers was in a rush to finish it. 4/10 Catherine
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