In front of the backdrop of London bookshop in the time before WW2 began, a grieving widow (Gertie) struggling to come to terms with her new life circumstances, takes in a German teenager (Hedy) and together the face what comes. Gertie has no energy for living until that is, Hedy arrives.
A real bond of friendship develops and grows pulling both women, separated by decades and by culture open to each other. It is a story of companionship and community.
While war’s might be known by the battles fought in far away places with names which are difficult to pronounce, they are won by the resilience, fortitude, and battles by the people at home who struggle to keep life going on the home front. This is a story of resilience, pain, adversity, and survival, as each of the many shortages and brushes with life and death hit home.
This story is so well written, that the reader feels as if they are living and breathing the same air as Gertie and Hedy. By the end of their struggles, you feel as if you have become a lifelong friend of Gertie. If you have ever wish to experience life on the frontline, without putting your own life on the line, feel the same highs and lows and work through the many difficulties then this is your next read.
I loved this from beginning to end. Thank you for bringing the story to life. I can’t wait to reading more of your work, Annie.
Thank you to headline publishers and to NetGalley for the ARC, for an honest review.

What an absolute gem of a book.
The characters were incredible told in a story through the dreadful war, loss and then love. All based around a little bookshop. This was a real page turner for me I actually could not put it down.
Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review. It was a delight.

This was such a beautiful, moving story following the life of Mrs. Gertie Bingham and her wonderful bookshop, through love, war, loss and love again with truly unforgettable, well written characters that enabled the story to flow so well

This is a great story, set during terrible times.
Gertie is lonely and the war is beginning.
This is the story of people binding together during difficult time and how friendship can come from strange and wonderful places.
I enjoyed the story, its gentle and kind but doesn't hide away from how difficult life was for people in Britain during the war and shows how small acts can make a difference.

The most emotional, uplifting and captivating story of wartime London and the extraordinary power of books to shine a light and draw people together in the darkest of days, inspired by true events.

London, 1938. Bookseller Gertie Bingham is facing difficult times, having just lost her beloved husband, Harry, and with a lingering sadness at never having been able to have a child of her own. Struggling to face running the bookshop she and Harry opened together, Gertie is preparing to sell up and move away when she is asked if she would be willing to take in a young Jewish refugee from Germany. Gertie is unsure and when teenager Hedy Fischer arrives, Gertie fears she has nothing left to give the troubled girl.

But when the German bombers come and the lights go out over London, Gertie and Hedy realise that books have the power to bring young and old together and unite a community in need in its darkest hour.
This book pulled me in and I read it in two days. The author writes in such a way that you fall in love with the characters and feel all the emotions as the novel progresses.

#AirRaidBookClub by @1AnnieLyons is out on 11th July 2023 #BookTwitter Thank you @NetGalley_UK for my copy

What a gem of a book. I loved Lyons’ previous book- Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You and so was delighted to be approved for The Air Raid Book Club. This was an easy read and I was hooked from the beginning. Gertie is a great character and the relationship she built with Hedy, the Jewish teenager who came to London on the Kindertransport was realistic. It must have been difficult to welcome someone from another culture into your home at a time when there was much distrust of Germans and Lyons portrays this well.
The development of the community as they rallied together as the war intensified was heartwarming with Bingham Books at the centre of this. The inclusion of quotes from well known classics set the premise for the content of each chapter and there were many book references that had me adding titles to my list to read.
My only minor criticism is that the book tried to cover too many years and so some sections at the end felt a little rushed and too conveniently tied together, but that is mainly because I wanted to spend longer with Gertie, Hedy and the other characters. Lyons really does create characters that you care about.
Overall a really uplifting book and one well worth reading.

Free courtesy of Netgalley

I absolutely loved this book, and didn't want it to end. I enjoy reading books that are based in the WW2 timeline and so when I saw this book it reached out to me as it featured things I love, books and a story about women in WW2. I had never read anything by Annie Lyons before so I was taking a risk.

The book is centered around Gertie Bingham, who is struggling with her life after her beloved husband Harry died, leaving her to run their bookshop on her own, she is considering selling up and retiring to the seaside with her dog. That is until her old friend Charles persuades her to take in a Jewish teenager brought to the UK from Germany, just before WW2 begins. Life continually changes for them both and the story tracks start to finish of the war.

The characters are believable in this book and you fall in love with them, you feel their ups and cry at their downs. If you like reading books centered in this period of time, then I would recommend this book as you won't be disappointed.

What a gem of a story! Gertie Bingham is a fabulous character and I loved finding out more about her past and following her progress as she discovers her future. The slow development of her relationship with Hedy is skilfully and touchingly done and it was lovely to see the prickly teenager develop into a confident young woman. Binghams Books is like a character in itself; I wish I could visit! This is a wonderful story of strong female friendship and found family and I absolutely adored it.

This book held me from start to finish! The twists and turns, the ups and downs and all the feels. It was fabulously written and made the pages dwindle and I didn’t want it to end.

Gerdie is such a formidable character and I only wanted good things for her! I was immediately rooting for all in her life to go well and couldn’t stop reading. It was such a gentle, endearing and easy book to read but raw and utterly realistic too.

Wartime books are amongst one of my favourite genres and this one stood out to me with its focused plot of Gerdie taking in a young German Jewish girl. The rumblings of war are beginning and there’s a drive to save the youngsters of Germany who face a very uncertain future. Gerdie takes in Hedy, a strong and wilful girl who is bound up in determination and has a love of books to rival Gerdie. Which is good as Gerdie owns a bookshop and it’s something they find they can bond over despite all the struggles they are going through. I teared up through sheer joy at several points during this book. Tissues at the ready!

As a widow who lost her beloved Harry, Hedy begins to show Gerdie how to live again and continue the fight into what she believes in. It was seriously so heartening to read and I loved every minute of it. I was certainly left feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. My only caveat is that it seemed to move very fast throughout the years and sometimes I was a bit lost as to what year it was! But I loved we got to navigate the whole war and beyond with the characters and spend many Christmases together! Loved it.

Also can we appreciate the amount of new books I’ve added to my ‘want to read list’ after finishing this? There was so many epic title name drops of loads of books I hadn’t even heard of and now want to read. It was awesome to have a ‘books mentioned in the air raid book club’ list at the end of the book to keep track of all of these great books. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

This was such a lovely read. It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure. Gertie and Hedy's story was fascinating from the shaky start to them becoming firm friends. The story was full of love, friendship and support from what was a wonderful community. The power of books which brought so many people together was truly wonderful . The story touched my heart.