Addison Armstrong

The story vacillates from 1926 and 1951. In 1926, Althea is finishing up her studies to be a nurse and is on the obstetrics shift. After witnessing the birth of a premature baby who is left to die in the hospital, she takes action after a second premature baby is born. Secretly, she takes the newborn struggling to live to the least likely place, but in reality the only place, where this child has a chance to survive. A doctor has set up incubators at Luna Park, Coney Island, for these babies show more to be cared for by himself and by nurses. To pay for this venture, people are charged a fee to see these tiny infants. Dismissed and scorned by the medical profession as just another freak show attraction, this doctor is nevertheless saving lives. And Althea in essence sacrifices her own life to save this newborn. In 1951, Stella is a teacher of special-needs children, at that time called handicapped children. She and her class are regulated to the basement, without an elevator for those in wheelchairs, without necessary school supplies, and without any support from the administration. Their day is shorter than a normal school day, and they are isolated from everyone else. When Stella finally demands some basic supplies for her kids on the threat of quitting mid-year, it doesn’t go well for her. Both these strong female protagonists fight for what they believe are injustices, but they go about it in different ways to achieve their goals. This compelling and well written story, based on true occurrences, is one of sacrifice and of hard decisions, but mostly, it is a story of a mother’s love for her child, and the love a teacher has for children who cannot speak for themselves. show less

Both timelines, both stories, in Addison Armstrong's The War Librarian kept me reading. For one thing, I'd had no idea that there was such a thing as the Library War Service in World War I. Furthermore, I hadn't read anything related to the first coed class at the Naval Academy. Those two points alone guaranteed my interest, and I appreciated the author's notes at the end of the book telling of her research.

Both Emmaline and Kathleen are united by more than just their experiences, which show more becomes clearer as the story progresses. Emmaline comes face-to-face with racism and censorship, while Kathleen has more than her share of gender bias and ignorance. When reading the part where Kathleen and the other women attend a mandatory class in which the male instructor tells them that "The hymen... is often broken during childbirth," I choked as I was swallowing a mouthful of iced tea. Superficially funny, the incidents those women in that first coed class had to face became maddening (and not much different from what women are facing today).

The War Librarian shows us the power of friendship, of family, of women. There's nothing particularly earth-shattering in its pages, but readers don't always need to be shaken to bits when they pick up a book. What they will find when they start reading The War Librarian is a solid, engrossing read that's a good way to spend an afternoon.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) show less

4.5⭐️ for me! I mean, ‘war’ and ‘librarian’…what was there not to make me listen to this book!!!

I enjoyed the 2 narrators for the 2 main characters. The back and forth between their stories was well done…short and cliffhanger chapters that helped me stay current with both stories as I was driving. The intertwined nature of these 2 women, one in 1918 and the other in the 1970’s was also well-done. Being women in a man’s world looked so different and yet exactly the same show more in the two settings. And of course the concept that books saved lives and words are more powerful than actions are close to my heart ❤️

I am sure I would have absolutely loved to have this book in hand too, so enjoy one or the other! show less

"The War Librarian" was a tribute to books, the power of words to provide comfort and enlightenment, and women's strength and determination. Like so many historical novels I've read, this one had a dual timeline. Emmaline became a volunteer war librarian in France, providing books to soldiers wounded in the Great War while Kathleen was a young Navy seaman, one of only a handful of women who signed up in 1976.

I had no idea that the American Library Association played such an important role show more during WWI, shipping thousands of books overseas to the men fighting for freedom, so I found Emmaline's story fascinating.

However, this novel made me so angry at times! The racial tension and what these women, especially Kathleen, faced from the men they worked beside infuriated me. Despite a sixty-year gap between the two timelines, both Emmaline and Kathleen were continually belittled, harassed, tormented, embarrassed and made to feel second-rate by arrogant, boorish males. Sadly, even though it is now 2023, many women find themselves in similar situations, especially those working in male-dominated industries.

Kathleen and Emmaline were both courageous trailblazers trying to make changes in the world in which they lived. They were supported by other likeable women, especially Nellie, who I adored for her cheerful outlook on life despite the atrocities she saw on a daily basis.

I liked how the author wove the two stories together, but I thought the ending was a bit flat which reduced my rating by half a star, However, overall, "The War Librarian" was a captivating historical read. show less