I wish I could remember who recommends a book to me when I love it. It’s usually not a mystery because I’m up-to-date with those. It’s usually just a good story, such as Poppy Alexander’s The Littlest Library. I “think” it might have been Kaye Wilkinson Barley who suggested this one. It’s a sweet story about a librarian who needs a boost in life.

At 32, Jess Metcalfe lost her beloved grandmother Mimi, the woman who raised her, and her job at the local library when the library closed. Bourton-on-the-Marsh is the only home Jess knew after her parents died in a car accident when she was four. But, her best firend, Hannah, married and living in Australia, tells her she needs a change in life. But, Jess is afraid of change. She has a fear of devastating loss, a fear of impending disaster. And, it’s worse when she starts to feel happy because she knows it won’t last.

Jess has nothing to do one day, though, and heads to Devon. In Middlemass, she comes across a little cottage that desperately needs help. And, Jess herself is so desperate that she falls in love with Ivy Cottage although she never really had a chance to tour it. An angry man confronts her about parking and blocking the roads. For once in her life, Jess does something impulsive, and puts in an offer on the rundown cottage. Before she knows it, her grandmother’s house is sold, and she’s packing up ten boxes of books to move to Middlemass.

That angry man is Aidan Foxworthy, Jess’ new neighbor, and the man who sold his grandfather’s cottage. Aidan might be stoild, with little expression except exasperation when he’s near Jess, but he’s also a helpful neighbor. Then, he tells Jess the telephone box on the property is her responsibility, and sends her to the parish council where they’re brainstorming ideas for the telephone box. What about a little lending library with Jess’ ten boxes of books as the basis of the library?

Jess and Aidan might rub each other the wrong way, but he puts shelves in the telephone box after she cleans it. As she starts to find friends in the community, there’s always something nagging at her, though. It’s Hannah who tells her she just can’t allow happiness to happen because she’s always afraid something will go wrong.

The Littlest Library is about a woman who is afraid to find happiness. There are so many reasons I loved this book, including the comment that broke my heart. “We’re book-starved here in MIddlemass.” It’s a moving novel of community and love and books, and finding where you belong. You might just want to check it out.

Poppy Alexander’s website is http://www.poppy-alexander.com

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander. Avon/HarperCollins, 2021. 326p.


FTC Full Disclosure – I downloaded a galley from NetGalley.