At 18, shy June (who'd been offered a place at Cambridge) became an assistant librarian at the village library. Her mother (a librarian until then) died 2 years later. Now she's 28, still shy, a virgin with no friends except the library patrons. She loves books, and knows people by the books they borrow - it's more a community hub than a library. She makes up backstories of people she sees. Old Stanley is in every day, but it's the young solicitor Alex who comes in one day and says "I'd like to take the librarian out". He means the book entitled "The Librarian", but later he asks her out too.
The library's being threatened with closure and she's not allowed to join the protest group. She anonymously leaks info to the protest group under the name "Matilda". Her boss Margery who's been boss for decades fears that the stripper at her daughter's hen party is going to bring disgrace to the family and tells June that she has to stop the stripper somehow. Margery's got June invited to the event even though she hasn't talked to the daughter since the age of 11. Margery think's a bit of socialising will do June good, but June would prefer staying in with Alan Bennett, her cat. She manages to divert the stripper to the library protest meeting where a TV crew happen to be.
She overhears Margery's husband, a councillor, talking to developers. There's a brief occupation of the library during which she discovers that Stanley used to be an alcoholic (his wife and son left him) and a grumpy woman started going on protest marches when her partner (a woman!) died or left her.
At the meal after the wedding June voices her suspicions about bribes. Margery has wondered where all the money came from for the wedding and her husband almost admits that he's being colluding with their son-in-law to be - an estate agent. June thinks Alex has a girlfriend. Neither Alex nor June get round to expressing their love - something always gets in the way.
Stanley is found dead in his rundown caravan. June finds her voice and delivers an impromptu speech at a council meeting. They decide to close all 6 local libraries. He's left money. In the final chapter, months later, we discover that Stanley's son gives money to keep the library going, that the struggling schoolgirl who studied there got to university, that the grumpy woman found a new partner, and Alex gets together with June, this time not just as friends. Presumably they all lived happily ever after.
Sampson writes "She lets out an audible sigh" (rather than "She sighs") and "hitting the ground with an audible thud" (can a thud be inaudible? Maybe, but there must be a better adjective available than "audible" - dull?).
Other reviews
- goodreads
- Ruth Ng
- Kirkus reviews (A delightful exploration of personal growth, inner strength, and the importance of family, friends, and love)
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