The Library Of Lost Stories - Eloise Williams

 

It's Christmas and Noni and her father are struggling to make ends meet.  Since the death of her mother, her father has struggled with day to day life, so Noni is the one who keeps things going; but now the bailiffs are banging on the door, threatening to evict them if they don't settle their debts.  When her father tells Noni about how he met her mother on the mobile library, she sees sparks of her old dad, and this inspires her to renovate the library van to see if it will bring back the father she used to know.  There's only one problem: the van has lain idle for years on Mrs Williams' drive, and Mrs Williams is known to all children in the area as the local witch.  So how is Noni going to succeed in her mission without being hexed?

Set in Wales in 1976, The Library Of Lost Stories is set in a small Welsh town where ten years earlier a coal mining accident killed over one hundred children and almost 30 adults.  The town is still healing and the van hasn't run since that day.  Things are tough for lots of the town's residents and the bailiffs are known to more than just Noni and her father.  But it's the death of Noni's mum that has affected her father and, although it is never expressly stated in the book, he is clearly suffering from depression.  It's evidently hard for both Noni and her father: he is crippled by grief and she is left picking up the pieces.  Small things like not having enough fuel to watch a full television programme; she's the one making meals and doing the cleaning; she's trying to do his repair work for him; she's no longer going to school ... she simply accepts it's what she has to do but life is tough.

At this point, I need to give my age away as the book was a rather nostalgic walk down memory lane in many respects: as a child of the 70s, there were so many subtle references that took me back in time and really made me smile (not least of which was the mention of raspberry ruffles which always remind me of my grandad!).  Life was different then and children would go off for the day without parents worrying.  I suppose it is this that allows Noni, usually a loaner, to befriend Rebecca, Claire, Gareth and Jones the stray dog, and to begin to do up the van.  Of course, they have to get past Mrs Williams and this will be the biggest problem of all.

Like Eloise, I have fond memories of hours spent at my local library as a girl (I can still visualise the place now).  As a reader it was a safe haven and a place that provided me with endless opportunities to escape into stories, so the thought if Noni and her friends restoring the van to help her father (and the community) filled my heart.  To this day, I think having access to books is essential for children (and adults, to be fair) and The Library of Lost Stories is a perfect example of why.

Publishing on the 3rd September, The Library Of Lost Stories is a poignant story about hope and faith and bringing people together; it's about justice and people being able to tell their own stories.  It's a book that will fill your heart with joy will restore your faith in humanity.