With The Last Chance Library, British author Freya Sampson delivers a refreshingly feel-good first novel about the sustaining power of books and how libraries unite communities and forge lasting relationships that improve lives.
The story orbits around a shy, small-town Brit, June Jones, 28 years old and suffering protracted grief after the death of her mother, who was the local librarian of Chalcot, a residential area. June is content continuing to live in the home she shared with her mother and working as an assistant librarian in the same library. There, June is privy to fascinating books and interacts with a host of quirky locals who depend on the library and all it has to offer. The patrons include two older ladies who are hang-abouts and gossips, one of whom constantly complains about noisy kids. A shy, bookish teenager relies on the respite of the library to escape her crowded family home. A mother and son who love to bake are constantly in search of new cookbooks. A precocious boy, the grandson of June's neighbor, frequents the library to nourish his overactive curiosity. And a retired, 82-year-old man shows up--always dapper in a suit and tie--to tackle the daily crossword puzzle.
When budget cuts in town threaten closure of the library, the patrons rebel and devise ways to save it. The Last Chance Library proceeds with great wit and tenderness. Readers will eagerly invest in the cause to save the library and be greatly amused by plot twists that play out with pleasant surprises and heart-tugging twists. -- Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines