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portybelle 's review for:
The Memory Library
by Kate Storey
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the idea of Sally creating a library of books for her daughter Ella. Every year since Ella was about 8, Sally had chosen a book for her birthday and written a dedication in it. I have to admit that at first I really didn’t like the grown-up Ella. She had left for Australia after graduation and really had very little to do with her widowed mother since then. I was so intrigued to find out what had happened to cause the rift between them.
When Ella reluctantly returns to London to look after her mother, it really is life-changing for her. Through looking after Sally and seeing how well-loved she is in her community, Ella finds out so much about her mother and what happened all those years ago and also finds out a lot about herself. For the first time, they really talk and listen and get to know each other properly. It was rather touching to read how they gradually grew closer. I looked up the Seamus Heaney poem Follower which Sally mentions to Ella and, like Ella, I watched a video on YouTube of Heaney reading the poem. It is very moving and brought a lump to my throat.
This book really is a love-letter to books and to libraries and does feature some actual love letters too. Through the library that Sally creates for Ella, the work of the public library in the community and the library that the community becomes involved in, we see just how important books and reading are.
I can’t sum up this book better than to use the words of one of the characters who is really talking about a special evening for Sally but I think it applies to the whole ethos of the book: “It’s about friendship, it’s about love and it’s about community.”.
When Ella reluctantly returns to London to look after her mother, it really is life-changing for her. Through looking after Sally and seeing how well-loved she is in her community, Ella finds out so much about her mother and what happened all those years ago and also finds out a lot about herself. For the first time, they really talk and listen and get to know each other properly. It was rather touching to read how they gradually grew closer. I looked up the Seamus Heaney poem Follower which Sally mentions to Ella and, like Ella, I watched a video on YouTube of Heaney reading the poem. It is very moving and brought a lump to my throat.
This book really is a love-letter to books and to libraries and does feature some actual love letters too. Through the library that Sally creates for Ella, the work of the public library in the community and the library that the community becomes involved in, we see just how important books and reading are.
I can’t sum up this book better than to use the words of one of the characters who is really talking about a special evening for Sally but I think it applies to the whole ethos of the book: “It’s about friendship, it’s about love and it’s about community.”.