The Librarian is one of those books that is an absolutely delight to have between your hands. The appeal of The Librarian for me personally immediately came from the presentation of the hard copy of the book itself. I selected this title to read based on the title and setting alone. I have heard of the notable author of The Cleaner of Chartres and after reading this novel, I have made a pact to seek out The Cleaner of Chartres sooner rather than later.

Salley Vickers is an author I was yet to explore until the opportunity came my way to review her latest novel, The Librarian. The Librarian is a book that looks at human relationships and reminds of how our lives can be enhanced by books. Sylvia also faces a new threat in the form of pressures over the continued existence of the library and her position. Over the course of the novel, these relationships grow and change. At the same time as Sylvia negotiates her feelings for the married man, she also develops a relationship with his daughter and the son of her neighbour. This causes scandal in East Mole and threatens her much loved position. No sooner has Sylvia settled into her new post when love comes into her life, in the form of a local married man. Sylvia has scored a position as a Children’s Librarian in the quaint little town’s library. In the year 1958, a twenty five year old woman, Sylvia Blackwell, leaves her life in Swindon for a new one in the small market town of East Mole. The story that gently unfolds is one of friendship, love, aspirations and the power of books. It is of course set predominately in a library and follows the journey of Sylvia Blackwell, a young woman who takes up the position of a Children’s Librarian in a declining library.

The Librarian, written by Salley Vickers, is a dream novel if you are a booklover. How does the library alter the young children’s lives and how do the children fare as a result of the books Sylvia introduces them to? My review:

Sylvia falls in love with an older man – but it’s her connection to his precocious young daughter and her neighbours’ son which will change her life and put them, the library and her job under threat. But the apparently pleasant town is not all it seems. Sylvia Blackwell, a young woman in her twenties, moves to East Mole, a quaint market town in middle England, to start a new job as a children’s librarian.

The Librarian by Salley Vickers