Library Girls, #4


Mavis is trying to get the East End landlords to improve their houses. People are living with no electricity, mould, dampness and leaking roofs. The landlords are increasing the rents but leaving the tenants in squalor. Mavis gets the tenants of these houses to stop paying their rent until the repairs have been made. The library is desperate for new books. A good book could give them an escape from what they are living through.

Cornelia, Mavis, Jane and Tom are back and it's Mavis' turn to take the lead role. She is trying to get rogue landlords to get the desperate repairs done to their properties. She gets the tenants to stop paying their rents until the work is completed. This was a generation who stood up for their fights and stood together as one. Unfortunately, people are still living in squalor today. Hopefully there will be more to come in this well-written series.

Published 4th December 2024

I would like to thank #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks and the author #PatriciaMcBride for my ARC of #ABetterTomorrorwForTheFactoryGirls

I do love teh East End Library Girls and enjoyed this book immensely. This is all about war, community, support and sticking together in tough times. This is a story that gets to the heart and it has emotion, sadness and happiness. It shows the strength and courage of not just the Library Girls but of everyone affected by the war and beyond.

I loved this book and the whole series and would highly recommend it to anyone that loves a good story about people, war and the affects before during and after. A very well written book with the characters you have to love and a story you can get involved in. Enjoyable and easy to read. Loved it.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Lots of drama fill the pages of this book. The girls of the Library in East End have their hands full. They need to supply books to their readers. To entertain the children during school break they need books and ways to entertainment them. Books are at a premium. To fill the shelves; they must get inventive.

The residents need an escape. Books are that escape. They are living below standards. The Landlords are refusing to make repairs as tenants get sicker and sicker. Making it worse, they are raising rents during a time of war. Mavis, a library clerk, is suffering along side them. Seeing how the residents come together is inspirational.

A Better Tomorrow for the East End Library Girls opened my eyes to so much that I didn't know about. History books just give the facts. Stories like this one bring in the human factor. You experience history through the characters eyes. You learn of their struggles through their eyes. The story left me realizing how little we are taught and that we all should learn more in order to not repeat the past.

I do enjoy reading bout the Library girls, this was how libraries used to be when I was small, a much kinder time and these places were exciting to go to. Nowadays they seem to have lost their charm for me. This story deals with segregation which find so upsetting even today it still goes on in some places. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Part of a series best read in order. Cordelia,Jane and Mavis strive to improve the lives of those in Silvertown during the war. A heartwarming read

I love being back with the East End Library Girls and catching up and finding out what they have been up too. In A Better Tomorrow for the East End Library Girls Mavis finally has Joyce in her care and they are quite happily getting along although Mavis isn't happy with the rent increases and she gathers the community to protest and make a stand! Jane has her alcoholic mother in law come to stay and Cordelia is torn with a new love interest. I soaked it all in with a huge grin and a full heart. Now I can't wait for the next one which I am anticipating because it does end on a rather sad note.

This is the fourth installment in the East End Library Girls series. Cordelia, Mavis, and Jane are back at the library, trying to organize a rent strike for the families of Silverton and entertaining the kids on summer vacation. The Yanks have arrived to help fight the war, and so has temptation.

I've read and enjoyed the series, and it was nice to see what the East End Library Girls were up to now. It could easily serve as a stand-alone book. The author does a great job of bringing this time alive. It reminds me a bit of Call the Midwife and East Enders, my favorite series. I'm loving the series so far and look forward to reading more about the East End Library girls.

Thanks to @boldwoodbooks, @netgalley, and the author of this ARC.

I was quite pleased to see another book in this series so soon after the last one, and think I can safely say there will be more to come.

It's always nice to reunite with characters you feel that you've come to know, and Cordelia, Mavis, Jane and Tom continue to pursue different ways they can improve their services to the locals of East End Silvertown. In their own unique ways, they do what they can to improve the lives of those they serve.

Mavis has a lead role in this novel. Local landlords have been raising rents illegally without due cause. Homes are in terrible condition to the point where they affect residents health. Mavis decides to organize a rent strike and call the slumlords out. It's a risky thing to do, but people step up to help out.

American GI's appear on the scene, including people of colour. They are a great help with repairs, but provide some temptation too.

Life was definitely not easy in these times and some of the trials people faced remind me of things happening both locally and around the world even today. The spirit of the locals who faced bombing raids and devastation around them was amazing.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next edition to find out if the "better tomorrow" will in fact come true.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book to be published in early December. All opinions are my own.

What a wonderful series and a fantastic way of showing a different aspect of the war. The characters are so delightful and heartwarming. I can’t wait to start at the beginning of the series.

When the library girls made it their mission to be as helpful as possible to the community they did reckon on Mavis’s fighting spirit! Mavis was the font of all local knowledge , so after she herself was unhappy about the lack of house repairs while being charged more rent she decided to get her colleagues onside to organise a rent strike. Help came from the Prof who frequented the library. Could this bring some unwelcome news for Camilla! At the same time the librarians were thinking up ideas to keep the children entertained, when suggestions came from a stranger to the library Camilla was rather interested in him, could this be the start of a dangerous game? Mavis has her own problems when she gets a visit from an unlikely person.

I really enjoyed the community spirit which runs through the book, the descriptions of life in the shelters, favourite words was peregrinations.
My favourite character was Mavis, least favourite was Stanstead.

These books are super addictive and I was delighted to be back with my plucky, strong willed East End girls! They are truly forces to be reckoned with and especially in this one, we have Mavis putting the world to rights when she decides to take on the East End landlords!

Hundreds of people are renting and living in awful conditions- wiping mould off the walls, leaky roofs, no electricity. The landlords are raising prices and not fixing their tenants housing but have no fear, Mavis is on the case! She rallies the village of Silvertown to make the landlords see sense, there’s a war on and people have enough to deal with!

We also see some of the American GI’s come over and all, especially Cordelia, are all in a flutter!

As ever, there’s books to be read and the community to uplift to keep their spirits in a terrible war. The East End girls are hoping for a better tomorrow, but will they get it? I can’t wait to read what’s going to happen next for these girls and the beloved Silvertown library.

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the book but not as much as the previous books in the series. Does it have the strong community spirit tjat i love? Yes. Does it have the strong Main characters? Yes. I think it was the Main topic that threw me a liitle bot off. Slumlords, yes I know it is an important topic, but for me, personally, it has been told so many times. I Will without doubt though, continue reading the series.
Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

This was everything that I was looking for in a historical fiction and as another entry in the Library Girl series. It had that element that I was looking for and was invested in what was going on and enjoyed the overall concept. Patricia McBride has a great writing style and glad I got to read this and can’t wait for more.

What an ending , can’t wait for the next one! Love this series of war time saga! Totallly heartwarming feel good books. Love all the characters and really get them!

Loved catching up with the girls from the library once again, always love reading about what they are getting up to and how life is progressing for them all, great storyline as usual and an amazing cast of characters
10/10

Another enjoyable book in the Library Girls series. I've enjoyed all the titles although did feel that this one wasn't quite as good as the previous one (everyone's personal storyline tastes!) As always this book was well written, easy and enjoyable to read at bedtime. It highlights how poorer societies not only often were subject to the greater effects of the Blitz and bombing but were also at the hands of ruthless landlords out to make the most they could of a situation. Sadly this is probably very true still today.

The books ends on a sad note and leaves lots of unanswered questions.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an Arc copy.

Firstly thank you Netgalley for this Arc

What a brilliant book in this series just love this series. So enjoyable to read I had to finish in one evening

Family saga, wartime just great

The library girls are stepping up to help everyone in Silvertown who are living in terrible conditions due to greedy landlords not maintaining their properties. Mavis is the one behind the revolt.
Jane is having to find inner strength when dealing with her erstwhile mother in law and Cordelia is finding herself longing for the company of an American GI.
The library girls as usual showing grit and determination in the face of the war.
Can’t wait for the next visit to Silvertown to catch up with the girls.
Brilliant book, brilliant series.