The Little Penguin Bookshop
August 1939, and the unwelcome spectre of war descends again on Britain – a country that has barely recovered from the disasters of The Great War. Carrie Anderson lives with her parents in the rather dull suburban town of Brockington, where she works in the family newsagents’ business. Carrie feels she needs to do something positive to assist in the war effort, and with the support of her uncle Johnnie, she takes the plunge to set up a train station bookstall to provide reading matter for the rail travellers. As the title of the novel suggests, the focus of her retail display and efforts are the bright and well-designed Penguin titles. The company was founded just four years earlier, and Carrie sees the potential they have for inexpensive but stylish books for the literate traveller. She starts a romantic liaison with Lieutenant Mike Hudson, a dashing officer who visits her bookstore and charms Carrie off her feet. But matters begin to get tricky when he is posted abroad.
This is the first in a new series and is an entertaining, absorbing and pleasant read. The narrative is undemanding and zips along. The historical context is sound as Joanna Toye encapsulates the uncertainty and anxiety of the times, with the rush, crowds and delays of the train station, acting as a sort of metaphor for elements of the domestic experience of The Second World War. There are interesting references to the titles of the books Carrie retails to show which books and authors were popular in England in 1939.
