Tag: London Booksellers in the 1930s

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons – A moving novel of lives, books and reading in a challenging time

May 27, 2024

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons

It is not often that I found myself so deeply moved by a novel, but this well written book evoked that sort of response. It takes as its theme that reading and books, if possible in the company of others, can improve and even change lives, and in the context of this book it is vital. The book opens in 1938 and proceeds through a war that separates families and friends and causes danger and death. The air raids of the title are the London Blitz which means for the first-time fighting is brought home to people on the Home Front. The main character, Gertie Bingham, is still trying to come to terms with the death of her beloved husband Harry some two years before, but as much as Lyons describes her devastation, the book is not a wallow in her sadness. Her ownership of a bookshop and the support of a very special teenager and friends means that Binghams’ bookshop will play a part in a very tough time and be the focus for many people. While this is the aspect of the book that first attracted me, I found the descriptions of Gertie and her progress the most effective. This is a book about the power of books to draw people together when they become the focus of joint reading and discussion, a way of escaping difficult circumstances. It is also an honest account of the difficulties of a refugee girl and how she longs for her family, as well as an encouraging story of how almost a new family gathers around her in the most extreme of circumstances.

At the start of the novel in London, 1938, Gertie is still felling the sadness of losing Harry, and is struggling to maintain interest in her successful bookshop. She is assisted by the invaluable young Betty, but other people who help with the shop and the attached Book Club are proving more difficult. She is also still missing her parents and beloved brother Jack, who was killed in the First World War. She still has her redoubtable Uncle Thomas, a renowned and kindly, if slightly eccentric bookseller, who supports her. Her friend Charlie, a loyal friend of Harry, still appears in her life, and it is through his charitable work that she is persuaded to accept a Jewish child who is already at risk in Germany from the growing Nazi persecution. As she is sad that she was not able to have a child herself during her marriage, she is torn, especially when she discovers that Hedy is fifteen and deeply troubled, and it is not easy to establish a relationship despite her best efforts. As War comes closer, Gertie, Hedy, Betty and others discover that this is going to be a very different conflict from the all too recent previous War, and that while men will still be called away, there will be danger in London itself.

An element of this book that I particularly enjoyed is the book titles that are being sought out and relished in such difficult circumstances. While “Gone with the Wind” is perhaps better known as a film today, the book then was a particular favourite. P.G Wodehouse’s humour and subtle political parodies are popular, as well as Du Maurier’s “Rebecca” as distractions from the challenges of daily life.

Lyons has brought to life people in fascinating time in the twentieth century, and laced the effective story with honesty and real feeling. I found this book an excellent read and recommend it to book lovers as well as those who enjoy a well written wartime story.

Death of Mr. Dodsley by John Ferguson – A 1937 London Bibliomystery republished in the British Library Crime Classic series

May 23, 2023

Death of Mr Dodsley by John Ferguson

This book is subtitled “A London Bibliomystery” as it deals with a bookseller, a book shop, and a much-scorned crime novel written by one of the characters that receives an awful if classic review. This review is a very positive one, however, as it this novel features some vivid characters, a fascinating setting of a bookshop and its mechanics laid bare, and a complex and satisfying mystery with many layers. As the description says, “A bookshop is a first-rate place for unobtrusive observation…One can remain in it an indefinite time, dipping into one book after another, all over the place.” Indeed, the stratagems adopted by at least one mysterious character for close observation involve moving books to allow a clear view of what is really going on in a second-hand department, and how much where and tear is inflicted during the lingering visits of potential customers. It is a satisfying novel published originally in 1937 and now reprinted in the excellent British Library Crime Classics series, with an informative Introduction from Martin Edwards which details the life and works of John Ferguson, who won enthusiastic support from Dorothy L Sayers for his work.  I enjoyed this book, especially the development of the characters, and I was very pleased to have the opportunity to read and review it.

As the subtitle suggests, this book is mainly set in the bookselling area of London, the setting for many bibliomysteries of the Golden Age of detection. However, the book actually opens in the House of Commons, as a late-night sitting features the much-noticed MP Grafton. The discovery of an abandoned detective novel together with a poor review introduces a link to the case which will soon emerge. A young but capable police constable is then shown confronting a drunken reveller, who indirectly leads him to a bookshop with an unlocked door. When he investigates, his discoverer of a murdered man at a desk provokes a case which will provide precious few solid clues, including discarded cigarette ends. While the staff of the bookshop are interviewed, including a young woman who is obsessed with American gangster films and speaks accordingly, the investigation draws in those who may or may not have a connection with the murdered man, and sufficient motive to commit the crime. It is when MacNab, a private detective who will become Ferguson’s series sleuth, appears with his special knowledge of the circumstances and shop, that the investigation really takes off. The police officers perform their function well, but it takes MacNab to discover who has achieved the unlikely, if not impossible, and why.

I really enjoyed this book because of its setting, which is so well described with a basic floor plan included. The small details such as a woman’s hair clip being discovered shows the careful attention to detail which really supports a complex plot which is underlying the action of the novel. The real achievement of this novel, I think, is the dialogue and the voices allocated to each character which really bring this book alive; from cameos of MPs to a quiet but observant bookseller, to a young police officer quaking in the face of identification, the characters have their individual realities even if their overall contribution to the narrative is relatively small. MacNab emerges as a clever and resourceful man who is able to size up the other characters well, yet he is portrayed as fallible in his genuine confusion. I thoroughly recommend this particular republished novel for its distinctive characters and fascinating plot which make it a fine example of Golden Age Detection.