At a glance
The Little Wartime Library
Historical fiction
The Little Wartime Library
In 1944, widowed librarian Clara Button runs Britain's only underground library inside Bethnal Green tube station, where thousands shelter beneath the bombing. With glamorous assistant Ruby Munroe, she supplies forbidden popular fiction, practical help, and a gathering place amid bunk beds, a nursery, café, and theater. Wartime danger and restrictive officials test whether their improvised community can protect the people whose private crises continue even underground. Hopeful and based on real history, this novel suits readers who enjoy resilient librarians, London home-front stories, female friendship, and books serving as daily infrastructure rather than merely symbolic comfort.
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Jump to the pours ↓Raspberry Cordial + Midnight Porter
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No surprises at chapter twelve
Content notes
World War II bombing and war violence; child and civilian deaths; domestic/physical abuse; panic attacks and trauma; antisemitism and genocide; sexual assault; suicide; pregnancy; injury and medical trauma.
Alcohol-Free Pour
Raspberry Cordial
Fresh raspberries and lemon make a bright cordial to pour over ice.
What you'll need
- 1/4 cup raspberries ↗
- 1 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice ↗
- 3/4 oz sugar ↗
- 5 oz cold water
- Ice
How to mix it
- Muddle raspberries with sugar. Add lemon juice and cold water, stir until dissolved, strain if desired, and serve over ice.
- Garnish: Raspberries and lemon wheel.
- Glassware: Highball glass.
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Highball glass ↗Muddler ↗Cocktail Pour · 21+
Midnight Porter
For adults of legal drinking age. Please drink responsibly.
Dark, toasty richness suits an unhurried afternoon between the pages.
How to mix it
- Pour into a clean pint glass and serve at the appropriate cool serving temperature.
- Garnish: None.
- Glassware: Pint glass.
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Pint glass ↗Set up the bar cart
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