From the Library With Love
Librarians, bestselling authors and our wartime generation sharing their love of books, reading and some extraordinary stories .
#Hidden History #Forgotten women #Bibliotherapy #Libraries
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to From the Library With Love. A podcast for anyone whose life has been changed by reading. I’m Kate Thompson.
Wonderful, transformative things happen when you set foot in a library. In 2019 I uncovered the true story of a forgotten Underground library, built along the tracks of a Tube tunnel during the Blitz. As stories go, it was irresistible and the result was, The Little Wartime Library, my seventh novel.
Bethnal Green Public Library, where the novel is set was 100 years old in October 2022, and to celebrate the centenary of this grand old lady, funded by library philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, I set myself the challenge of interviewing 100 library workers. Speaking with one library worker for every year this library has been serving its community seemed a good way to mark this auspicious occasion. Because who better to explain the worth of a hundred-year-old library, than librarians themselves!
I wanted to explore the enduring value of libraries and reading. I quickly realised that librarians have the best stories.
My research led me to librarians with over fifty years of experience and MBEs, to the impressive women who manage libraries in prisons and schools, to those in remote Scottish islands. From poetry libraries overlooking the wide sweep of the Thames, to the 16th century Shakespeare’s Library in Stratford, via the small but mighty Leadhills Miners’ Library.
This podcast was born out of those eye-opening conversations, because as Denise from Tower Hamlets Library told me: 'If you want to see the world, don't join the Army, become a librarian!'
I’ll also be talking to international bestselling authors and some remarkable wartime women about their favourite libraries, stories, the craft of writing and the book that helped them to view the world differently. Come and join me as I delve into the secrets behind the stacks.
Podcasts edited by Ben Veasey at media-crews.co.uk
Image by Julie Price
From the Library With Love
Author of The Midwife of Auschwitz, Anna Stuart on uncovering the torment of the Abba star with the Nazi father and the courageous midwife who delivered 3000 babies in Auschwitz.
Anna Stuart is international time traveller, roaming the past for stories. The historical fiction writer turns out three novels a year, writing under two different pseudonyms. As Joanna Courtney she wrote a trilogy set in the 11th century, Queens of Conquest and as Anna Stuart, she writes WW2 fiction.
Her recent novel, The Midwife of Auschwitz, is inspired by the harrowing true story of the women who delivered babies in the midst of hell and it's sequel, The Midwife of Berlin is out now.
From Book 1: Auschwitz, 1943: As I held the tiny baby in my arms, my fingers traced the black tattoo etched across her little thigh. And I prayed that one day this set of numbers, identical to her mother’s, would have the power to reunite a family torn apart by war…
Inspired by an incredible true story, this poignant novel tells of one woman’s fight for love, life and hope during a time of unimaginable darkness.
Ana Kaminski is pushed through the iron gates of Auschwitz beside her frightened young friend Ester Pasternak. As they reach the front of the line, Ana steps forward and quietly declares herself a midwife – and Ester her assistant. Their arms are tattooed and they’re ordered to the maternity hut. Holding an innocent new-born baby, Ana knows the fate of so many are in her hands, and vows to do everything she can to save them.
When two guards in their chilling SS uniforms march in and snatch a blond-haired baby from its mother it’s almost too much for Ana to bear. Consoling the distraught woman, Ana realises amidst the terrible heartache there is a glimmer of hope. The guards are taking the healthiest babies and placing them with German families, so they will survive. And there are whispers the war is nearly over… Ana and Ester begin to secretly tattoo little ones with their mother’s numbers, praying one day they might be reunited.
Then, early one morning, Ana notices the small bump under Ester’s thin striped clothing…
An absolutely heartbreaking and page-turning WW2 novel of one woman’s bravery and determination to bring life and hope into a broken world. Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Nightingale will be gripped.
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