The Wartime Book Club Audiobook By Kate Thompson cover art

The Wartime Book Club

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The Wartime Book Club

By: Kate Thompson
Narrated by: Imogen Church
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Inspired by true events, The Wartime Book Club is an unforgettable story of everyday bravery and resistance, full of romance, drama, and camaraderie and a tribute to the joy of reading and the power of books in our darkest hour.

The Isle of Jersey was once a warm and neighborly community, but in 1943, German soldiers patrol the cobbled streets, imposing a harsh rule.

Nazis have ordered Grace La Mottée, the island's only librarian, to destroy books that threaten the new regime. Instead, she hides the stories away in secret. Along with her headstrong best friend, she wants to fight back. So she forms the Wartime Book Club: a lifeline, offering fearful islanders the joy and escapism of reading.

But as the occupation drags on, the women's quiet acts of bravery become more perilous–and more important–than ever before. And when tensions turn to violence, they are forced to face the true, terrible cost of resistance...

Based on astonishing real events, The Wartime Book Club is a love letter to the power of books in the darkest of times–as well as a moving work that brings to life the remarkable, untold story of an island at war.

©2024 Kate Thompson (P)2024 Forever 20th Century Friendship Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Women's Fiction Suspenseful War

Critic reviews

"A page-turning adventure, dripping with historical authenticity.”—Jenny Lecoat, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl from the Channel Islands
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I love historical fiction books especially when they are based closely on real life events. This did not disappoint.

Wonderful Book

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Over the years I have read many books and watched many movies dealing with WWII. This is the first one I've read telling of the occupation of the British Channel Islands. The author weaves her story around the strong framework of actual events that took place on the island of Jersey in a way that draws you in to a world that no one would want to live through, yet these brave souls did just that. This is an emotional roller coaster that is well worth the read (listen). Bravo Ms. Thompson!

WWII From a Little Different Perspective

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From character development to great narration, this was wonderful. Sad and happy and all the feels.

Just lovely

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Easy listening as if it is happened for real. The characters are so appropriate and relatable to the time of the story

Great wartime story

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First, I have to say that I absolutely loved The Little Wartime Library (also by Kate Thompson) and have recommended it to several people. It's a wonderful book. I was so looking forward to The Wartime Book Club because of how much enjoyed Ms. Thompson's first novel. However, I didn't love this one as much. The premise of the story is good and very solid. (I hadn't really heard that much about the Nazi occupation of the Chanel Islands.) However, this book is so full of anger and angst, it was hard to get through. (SO many F-bombs, too! That's lazy writing in my opinion.)

While the characters' fear and anger is justified, I think Imogen Church's performance was so overly exaggerated and over-the-top dramatic, it made you want to slap the characters just to shut them up. (She also had a funky lisp which was distracting.) The performance actually detracted from the poignancy of the story, which is a shame, because as I already mentioned, the story's premise was very good and it was a moment in history that should be explored, retold and cherished.

The book follows the lives of two best friends during the Nazi occupation of Jersey and is inspired by true accounts of real people who lived on the island during those horrible years. If you can overlook the language, I would suggest reading this book rather than listening to it...

It's not a sequel to The Little Wartime Library.

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A friend recommended this book, and I was not disappointed. It was well written and well read.

Good story and narration

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This was a very informative and captivating story about a part of the war that I was really not familiar with. Listen to the postscripts at the end of the story because you will learn a lot about what is true in the story (a lot). The narrator was just a little “over done” as far as intonation and emphasis, but I got used to it.

Great story

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Imogen Church’s over-the-top, slow narration takes away from the story. I sped her up to 1.3 and was able to get through. I love the thorough research and love for England that this author puts into her books.

Well researched

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I had to return this book. I got as far as chapter 2, and I would have liked to continue but every time the narrator voiced Bea, the volume would spike and nearly deafen me. if I turned it down enough that she didn't drive a spike through my eardrums, I couldn't hear the rest of the narration. Maybe I will try the kindle version, because I probably would have enjoyed it otherwise.

Something wrong with narration

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