The Librarian
  • Published: 1 November 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241330234
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $26.00

The Librarian

The Top 10 Sunday Times Bestseller

Formats & editions
Paperback
1 Nov 2018
EBook
5 Apr 2018
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'This beautifully crafted novel is a tribute to the power of books' Sunday Express

In 1958, Sylvia Blackwell, a newly-trained librarian, takes up the post of Children's Librarian in a run down library in the market town of East Mole. But her project to inspire the local children to read is threatened by undercurrents of prejudice in the seemingly pleasant town. Her position is also affected by her love affair with a married GP. The relationship his precocious daughter forms with the son of Sylvia's neighbour, and a deprived child struggling to pass the impending eleven plus, puts Sylvia's job and the existence of the library in danger.

How do the children fare as a result of the books Sylvia introduces them to? And how does the library alter the children's lives?
  • Published: 1 November 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241330234
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $26.00
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About the author

Salley Vickers

Salley Vickers is the author of the word-of-mouth bestseller Miss Garnet's Angel and seven other bestselling novels, including Mr Golightly's Holiday, The Other Side of You and her latest acclaimed novel, The Cleaner of Chartres. Her first collections of short stories, Aphrodite's Hat, attracted wide praise and she now returns with a second collection, The Boy Who Could See Death. Salley Vickers is a former university teacher of literature and psychoanalyst and now writes and lectures full-time. She lives in London and Oxford.

Also by Salley Vickers

Grandmothers
The Gardener
Cousins
The Message from Lindisfarne
The Boy Who Could See Death
Vacation
The Cleaner of Chartres
See all

Praise for The Librarian

No one can dig down into the shrouded recesses of the human heart quite as forensically as Vickers

Sunday Times

Vickers' real skill as a story teller is in allowing each distinct voice to contribute to a complete, or as complete as can be, picture of one family... the pace gathers, making for a deeply poignant climax

Financial Times on 'Cousins'

Vickers writes of relationships with undaunted clarity

Adam Phillips

Vickers lays bare the inner workings of one family, possibly every family, with an often disconcerting clarity

The Times on 'Cousins'

The Librarian will wring the heart of anyone who fell in love with books as a child. It is a hymn to the power of children's literature...delightful

The Times

A nostalgic treat...involving and hopeful

Mail on Sunday

Quirky and charming

Love It!

This beautifully crafted novel is a tribute to the power of books

S Magazine, Sunday Express

Excellent... a period tale of sentimental education, it's deliciously readable, with a clever epilogue zooming into the present day for a last gasp surprise

Daily Mail