👶👶👶👶: The War Librarian, by Addison Armstrong

I've been reading a ton of WWII Historical Fiction, so it was a nice change to learn more about our efforts during WWI in this enlightening novel. The author really brought to light something I thought so little about: the need for soldiers to escape their reality through books. I never thought of the need for war librarians and donations of books. But this novel was so much more...

The author created a story that underscores the importance of books to provide comfort but also to enlighten and inform. She brings to light the fact that in these United States, book banning was an issue back in the early 1900s as it still is today. As she states in the author's note: "...𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑫𝑺 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑷𝑶𝑾𝑬𝑹."

Ms. Armstrong delved into women's never-ending struggle to prove themselves in a male-dominated society, despite their exemplary contributions throughout history. And she even threw in a storyline that highlighted the racist attitudes that have mired our history.

I was duly impressed by not only the affecting tone of the novel, but the impressive dual timeline with which she chose to tell her story. Both protagonists were strong, capable women that effected change in their own world.

Bravo @addison.armstrong.author ! What an important novel with such strong messages.

Many thanks to @NetGalley and @putnambooks for gifting me with this advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!