Friendships can come in various forms and sometimes the person that you never knew you needed can be found in the most unlikely of places. Their library is the beacon that calls to them, for differing reasons, but it’s the catalyst that changes how they look at other people.

The exceptional relationship between Maggie and Tom is so compelling, they each draw such strength from the vitality and vulnerabilities from the other. You could fully understand why they felt that strong connection together. I was fully engrossed in their evolving alliance against their own demons and the ones trying to take their library away from them. It was hard to pull myself away from them. Maggie’s sense of resilience was fantastic, and it chipped away at the stereotype of the older person on their own. I loved that she gave Tom the courage to strive for something different. She nurtured his wounded spirit and was a counterpoint to his stagnated relationship with his dad.

We all need the yin to our yang, and Tom & Maggie show that true friendships are to be cherished. This is such an uplifting story, it will make your heart zing.

My thanks to NetGalley and Aria Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

“The Library” drew me in, as it did Tom and Maggie, the main characters in this new uplifting novel by Bella Osborne. As an avid reader and lover of books, I am of the opinion that a town without a library is a place that has no soul. For books bring us together, introduce us to different ways of life, of thought, of being. They also bring together people from all backgrounds, ages and walks of life. A library is a necessity not a luxury.

“The Library” opens with Tom, a sixteen year old grieving for his mother, who died a few months previously. Tom’s dad is also grieving and in his grief , he turns to alcohol to numb the pain. Which does not make for a pleasant home life for Tom, who already feels invisible. No one notices Tom at all, well, except for local bully Kemp, for whom Tom is a target. Tom is lonely.

Maggie is a seventy two year old, self sufficient person, who lives alone on a small holding out side of town. Maggie was an eco warrior long before it was fashionable.
Once a week Maggie goes to the library book club, mainly for the company. Maggie is lonely.
Out of necessity, Tom rediscovers reading, something he used to enjoy with his mum. He also discovers the library. Where he meets Maggie.
A series of circumstances, draws the two together. Their friendship grows and becomes the catalyst for change in both their lives.
This book tackles some dark issues and does not shy away from them, but it is shot through with the golden threads of positivity and humour, a hall mark of Bella’s books.
I absolutely recommend this book to all.




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I enjoyed this book. At times, it felt rather slow, but overall it was quite enjoyable. The characters were sweet and the plot was very cute. I loved the rom-com book references throughout. Definitely an easy read if you're looking for something quick.

There seems to be no shortage of books lately about the threat of closure to a beloved community library - this is one of two I have right now. Unfortunately, it’s a reflection of the real-life threat to public libraries, so if I take nothing else away from this book, it’ll be a reminder of how grateful I am to have an awesome community library where I live and to continue to support it!

Now for the book: At the heart of it, it’s less about saving the village library, though that’s the plot device that introduces characters and moves events along, but more about the unlikely friendship between Tom, a 16-year-old socially awkward boy who lost his mother, and Maggie, a spunky, independent 72-year old widow who lost her son. These are two people who, each in their own way, desperately need the other.

Tom is watching his once happy dad, Paul, spiral downward into alcoholism and debt, increasingly neglecting his duties as a father while pressuring Tom to give up his university dream to get a factory job. Maggie is maintaining a sheep farm by herself and dealing with the isolation and loneliness that can come with age and circumstance. She also has a secret from her past involving her son - the mystery of which plays throughout the story. Tom and Maggie find each other through the library, but their friendship grows as Maggie becomes a defacto mother to Tom during the worst of his father’s decline.

Despite the heavy topics, it’s a sweet story, and I loved Maggie and Tom’s friendship. Honestly, anyone would be lucky to have someone like Maggie in their corner. Where the story suffered a bit for me was in sheer length. Because of the more leisurely pace of the story, 384 pages started to feel unnecessarily long at some point, and the resolution of the threat to the library faded in and out of the story until the last chapters. The story of Paul’s alcoholism and the negative effects on Tom was really tough to stomach, but that may have been more personally triggering for me, than a problem with the book.

Overall, I really liked the story and if you’re looking for a new character duo to love, you just might love Maggie and Tom!

★★★ ½ (rounded to 4)

This is the first book i've read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is about a friendship between 16 year old boy named Tom and 72 year old woman, Maggie who met at a village library. hen the small library is under threat of closure, Tom and Maggie help to rally the community to save the library. That's just the highlights - the really interesting part of this story is the relationships among the characters, most especially Tom and Maggie.

A delightful tale of 2 people suffering from loss and finding each other in the library by chance. Tom and Maggie live different lives because one is a teen and the other a widow, but fate brings them together and their strengths grow with the help of each other.

Tom is a teenager and blends into the background of life. After a row with his dad, and facing an unhappy future at the dog food factory, he escapes to the library. Tom unwittingly ends up with a bagful of romance novels and comes under the suspicion of Maggie.

Maggie is a pensioner and has been happily alone for ten years, at least that's what she tells herself. When Tom comes to her rescue a friendship develops that could change her life. As Maggie helps Tom to stand up for himself, Tom helps Maggie realise the mistakes of her past don't have to define her future.

They each set out to prove that the library isn't just about books – it's the heart of their community.

Together they discover some things are worth fighting for.

Bella Osbourne is very quickly writing her way into being my favourite author. This is another absolute triumph, I adored last year's 'A Family Christmas' and this year's book us no different. It's the perfect mix of sadness, resilience and just perhaps a little happiness at the end. She is excellent at writing characters at opposite ends of the age spectrum and I found this to be a prefectly written piece of uplit literature, it gets a definite 5 star review from me.

Thanks to Aria and Aries and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I've read a few Bella Osborne books and enjoyed them and this one is no exception - well there might be a tiny exception - I think this is my favourite. I absolutely loved this. It's the story of Tom a troubled 16 year old who just wants to be ignored and Maggie a 72 year old lady he meets in the library and the unlikely bond that they form.

This is a wonderful story!

This book was received as an ARC from Aria Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have been waiting for a book like this all my life since I got my degree and became a librarian. Many people do not know the true significance of the library and what it provides to the community (it's more than just books). In The Library it sparked a romance and a venue for a date in which it is a significant part of not only the community but to someone's life. After Tom gets himself in bug trouble, he not only needs the support from Maggie but the resources in the library more than ever especially if the library is being threatened to shut down. The library can be a true safe haven in the library and you can find wonderful things in the library and I am delighted that this book took a clear focus on that. I know our library community will appreciate that.

We will consider adding this title to our Adult Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This was a wonderful book. The dynamic between Tom and Maggie is so wonderful. I love a good story of saving a library (I mean, who wouldn't?!), and this one was just really well written with lovable characters.

The Library was an awesome read. It tackles some delicate human emotions which everyone around us is facing but not talking about them. I loved the interactions, the rapport and dynamic between our lead characters,it was done so very well.

I do enjoy Bella Osborne’s romance book but this generational read was equally as good if not better. Featuring teenager Tom and pensioner Maggie the story gradually opens up their lives and characters and the interactions between them grow at a credible rate. I really felt for Tom who was quite lonely and really just existed alongside his widower dad and not entirely unusually his main connection to his friends was through his Xbox. Maggie lives a very lonely life but equally avoids much introspection into her life, she has some wonderfully eccentric ways too and her small holding sounded idyllic although hard work at times. This worked so well due to the gradual relationship between the two and the way Maggie encouraged Tom to think more about his future, the way they united to try to save the library was in some ways more of a backstory but it tied everything together so well, 9/10

This is the first book I've read by Bella Osborne and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book kept me engaged throughout. It is about a friendship between 16 year old Tom and 72 year old Maggie who met at the village library. Tom's mother died and he's living with his Dad, who is an alcoholic. Maggie lives alone on a farm and enjoys it. Tom has a crush on Farah, who enjoys romance novels, so Tom goes to the library in hopes of either seeing Farah there or learning more about women by learning about romance novels. Maggie goes to the library once a week for book club as a way of interacting with others. When the small library is under threat of closure, Tom and Maggie help to rally the community to save the library. That's just the highlights - the really interesting part of this story is the relationships among the characters, most especially Tom and Maggie.

Good characters, good plot and well written make for a lot of enjoyment. Thanks to Aria & Aries through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on September 2, 2021.

This is a difficult review to write, as I did enjoy this book, however I wasn't a huge fan of the way it was written. The story and the characters, were engaging, but not being British, I was confused at times give the linguistic differences in British slang. My only real issue was that Tom and Maggie had one voice; although two different characters and two points of view, I did feel their voices were too similar for me to imagine two different people. Given that, this book lost a few points from me, but overall it was a decent story and I did finish it willingly.

Maggie is in her 70’s living alone on her small farm with very little company apart from her farm animals and weekly book club at her local library.

Tom is 16, a lonely and invisible soul whose mom died when he was 8. His father works night shifts and both have retracted into their own worlds. Tom into his Xbox and his father into an alcoholic haze.

When the two meet in the library one day, they slowly start to develop a deep and fulfilling friendship that feeds a gap in both of them.

They come together when Tom’s father reaches a scary point and then when the library’s existence is threatened.

This is such a beautiful book, while I was reading it, I could just imagine this as a thoughtful and gorgeous film starring a Maggie Smith type character 🎥 It’s a firm recommendation from me ❤️📚🐑

This is a lovely novel about libraries and what they mean to the community and how a library can create friendships with someone you least expect. I felt so much for Tom and all he is going through. He is just trying to figure out where he going to end up and grieving his mother. A great book for library lovers , hard to read in some places but overall a wonderful ending.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

I loved this story of the unlikely friendship between a teenage boy and 70 something older woman. They are brought together through their unrecognized need for community. That they are teamed up to save a library brought a little fun to the story. This was a sweet, quick read - just what I needed on a rainy day. 4.5 stars

If you read the blurb, you might think the story would be totally predictable and this is nothing but an easy and pleasant read, sort of like a fun small-town community story. I thought so when I started reading, but when it got to about 40% into the book, it got a bit dark and serious. It dealt with difficult themes head-on which I didn’t expect. And I got so emotional when Tom got emotional because I felt his pain so much. And Maggie’s as well. It is heart-warming in the end, but for me, this was a difficult book to read.

Having said that, this is a wonderful life-affirming story. And I hope many people will pick this up!!

A touching and moving story between two characters that couldn't be more different from each other but still manage to find each other. A story about loneliness, humanity, and trust. The library setting is icing on the cake. 3.5 stars.

Friendship and unity to save the library- a worthy cause and place and of course a place needed so people can escape their demons and enter a new world. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.