This was an enjoyable book set during the war.
I liked Alice and her strength during such a tough time.
It’s a really nice love story not just for Alice but her two adopted Aunts. It’s a fast moving easy to read book. Perfect for all historical fiction fans!

I enjoyed 2 previous novels by the authors and was excited to dive into this one. I enjoy the world War 2 theme kept in the novels. The Alice also runs a library was a neat twist especially once she meets Clara and Richard. My biggest grievance is I just did not connect well with Alice so the story did not entice me as much as I would have liked but it was an enjoyable read.

Glynis Peters Magic! A sweet book laden romance that will surprise you. I don’t understand the title though. The main character is 17 and her library isn’t secret since she’s traveling all over the countryside lending books.

Sympathetic characters and a good story, however, I found it somewhat unbelievable that Alice was only 18 and achieving all she did with that level of maturity. I feel that the character needed to be older, perhaps mid- twenties. That aside, it was an interesting story.

After the death of her grandmother during an air raid in WW2, Alice sets out to find her aunt her only living relative. After travelling many miles, she discovers her aunt has died. She is taken in by two sisters who eventually come to regard Alice as the daughter they never had. Alice rebuilds her life and is recruited by the SOE. Her love of books enables her to open a library, where secret messages are sent and received by agents in the fight against the enemy. She finds love with an American mechanic on the nearby air base. A moving story about love and heartbreak that touches the everyday lives of people during this terrible time.

This was a wonderful story of hope, love and a dedication to the power of words. Alice was an orphan who found out she had a grandmother, and went to live with her. It was during WWII and she lost her grandmother when bombs hit all around them. I thought it was interesting that instead of clothes when she went to find her grandmother's sister, she packed her bag with books from her grandmother's library. It must have been so heavy. Her search for the great aunt didn't work out as she was dead, but wasn't a nice person anyway. A stranger took her in and gave her a new start in life. She takes over being a postwoman when Hilda is hurt and starts delivering mail. She also starts a library of sorts and starts delivering more than mail.

The story was very interesting and engaging from beginning to end.

I got this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Alice an orphan loses her only family member her grandmother to a bombing. She finds out her grandmother had a sister. Alice walks carrying what little she owns and a few books salvaged from her grandmother's library to her aunts house. She finds out from a neighbor that her aunt is dead and wasn't a very nice woman. The neighbor takes pity on Alice and sends her to live with her sister. There Alice gets a few jobs but settles in as a librarian. She also gets involved with top secret war work.
I loved this book from the beginning to the end. Alice is charming and a lover of books. I really liked the found family dynamics. I also liked the very real relationship Alice has with a soldier. The diary's entries and letters Alice writes are interesting as well. I want to read all the books Alice read.

For as long as Alice Carmichael can remember, the only thing she’s been able to count on is the written word. The war may have taken everything from her, but the stories she cherishes provide solace and escape into a world that is more hopeful than 1942 England. So when Alice finds herself at the mercy and kindness of strangers, miles from everything she’s ever known, it’s little surprise that books become her purpose.

Heartwarming, devastating, and uplifting, this is another beautifully written tome by Glynis Peters that deftly weaves the ugliness of war and loss with compassion, bravery, and hope. Inspiring and encouraging in dark times! 4.5⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. This is my honest opinion of the book.

A heartwarming story about a young woman who loses so much due to WWII and who carries on- determined to make a difference. Alice was orphaned, then lost her grandmother in the Blitz, and when she is sent to Norfolk to live with her aunt learned that she's gone as well. It's the community that takes her in and gives her hope as does her work. And the young man, an American. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good one for fans of tales about life on the homefromt.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

At 17 years old, Alice who is an orphan travels to where her great-aunt lives, on reaching the place, she finds out that she’s no longer alive.

She then starts to live with two sisters of another aunt. Slowly she begins to see how the war is affecting everyone as she’s living by an airfield, where Americans from the USAAF live.

Alice becomes a librarian, by using the little library to do her bit in the war effort.

The story depicted what it was like during WWII, what the country went through with pilots doing their duty, but not coming home and lost loved ones.

I highly recommend this book.

Historical drama set during World War Two. An orphan finds a new home and a new purpose. Heartwarming and enjoyable.

It’s not until a third of the way through this novel, that we learn of the Secret Library. The foregoing simply sets the scene but is slow moving and at times a bit tedious. I felt the ‘Dear Diary’ sections were unnecessary and detracted from this rather sweet romance between an America mechanic based in Norfolk, and the orphaned Alice who had rebuilt her life with the help of strangers. Alice’s recruitment and work for the SOE proved invaluable towards bringing the war to an end and added a nice bit of excitement. Highly readable and entertaining.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins One More Chapter, for this ARC

May, 1943: Alice Carmichael is homeless at the age of seventeen when the home belonging to her grandmother was hit by a bomb. She finds a new purpose in her life when she finds new guardians, two sisters take her in and treat her like family. She turns her grief into helping the war effort. When one of the sisters has an accident while doing her job as a postie. Alice takes over. As she did the job so well, she decides to join the SOE, passing messages through books at the local library.

This is an emotional read. The characters are well portrayed. It's so well-written and covers the realities of living during WWII. Of course, with most good stories, Alice finds love with an American called Blake. The pace is slow to start with, but it soon picks up. The story honours the people who lost their lives fighting for their country.

Published 24th November 2024

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter and the author #GlynisPeters for my ARC of #TheSecretOrphansLibrary in exchange for an honest review.

The Orphans secret Library is another great book from Glynis Peters.
Alice Carmicheal is an orphan. At 5 she was left at an orphanage and then went to live with her grandmother but sadly she died in the Blitz. Her only living relative lives in a small village in Norfolk. But when she gets there, she finds out that she also has died. With nowhere else to go she is taken in by two sisters who becomes her family. She gets a job as a post woman, who cycles every day. As one of the sisters who is a postie has an accident and can’t do the job, so Alice takes over. She does so well the decides to do her bit for the war by joining the SOE and passing messages though the books at the local library.
When the Americans arrive at the village Alice falls in love with one of them Blake. With that and doing her bit for the war keeps her busy.
This is an emotional tale of everyday life during the war and of the lads going of to war and some that never come home. This is a great love story too with someone who wasn’t born with a with a hold lot of love but eventually found it. This is a great read. 4 stars from me.

3.5 stars
A young girl who has lost literally everything in the Blitz is able to channel her grief into helping the war effort.
This novel was a love-letter to the power and healing that books can contain, as well as interesting WW2 historical fiction.
*I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

Another great book from Glynis Peter’s. Alice is an Orphan who, after her Grandmother dies, goes to find an Aunt. Unfortunately the Aunt has died but two sisters take her in and befriend her. The war is raging and Alice finds herself as a teenager helping in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Thanks to Glynis and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley

UK, May 1943: Alice Carmichael becomes homeless at seventeen when the house of her grandmother is bombed, losing her protector and safe space. As a child, she grew up surrounded by books and her natural instinct leads her to taking a few books she could carry with her.

As she finds new shelter, she finds new guardians, friendship and discovers a new purpose in life. She becomes a postwoman at Billingford who sets up a mobile library, which later extends to a village library and her secret war work.

Alice’s new location is close to an airbase housing American Airforce. She meets an American airman and tries to balance love with her secret mission, which leads to some tensions.

Alice is almost eighteen when she falls in love and receives her first advice about men. Throughout the story, she writes in her diary revealing her thoughts which also involve her feelings toward a man.

As devastating war is, this story demonstrates how one can still find purpose and love; and the resonating fact of the written word that has the power of transporting one to a different place bringing healing, solace, and hope. The story reveals the lost lives of the men who worked at the Norfolk airbase and pays honors to those young men who some of them left the airbase for a mission and never returned.

The story is written with simple prose and carrying a voice of a young person which may resonate with some readers. It has a slow start and there are parts that move faster than the others. Nevertheless, the story carries an engaging thread.

Alice Carmichael is orphaned in WWII. She finds a home with a good woman in Norfolk, near an American air base, where she keeps a library service going. While this has interesting characters, I had a hard time staying in the story.

Really enjoyed this book. Full of joy, heartbreak and bravery! Thank you for an early read Net galley

Glynis Peters brings another aspect of WWII to life in her new book, The Orphan’s Secret Library. Alice, a 17 year-old orphan, makes her way to where a great-aunt lives. Discovering her aunt has passed away, she is taken in by two sisters who become her family. She is exposed to the realities of war living by an airfield built to house Americans from the USAAF in Britain. Alice becomes a librarian, utilizing her little library as a tool to assist her country in the war effort. This is a moving depiction of what life was like during WWII, describing the tragedy of pilots leaving in the morning but not returning in the evening. I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy history as well as a moving love story.