The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Martin, Madeline. The Last Bookshop. Hanover Square Press, April 6, 2021. Kindle.

In The Last Bookshop in London, a historical fiction novel by Madeline Martin, Grace Bennett arrived in London feeling as if she were a failure after her mother’s death and uncle’s rejection. She feared she would not be able to find a job because her uncle had even refused to write her a letter of recommendation for the years she had worked for him. With the help of her mother’s friend, Mrs. Weatherford, Grace found a job working for a curmudgeonly old man in a bookshop. Though Grace feared she would fail at this job, she came to love books and reading. Moreover, she used reading to inspire her neighbors during the dark days of the war.

Even though Percival Evans, the man for whom Grace worked, claimed he did not need Grace’s help in his bookstore, Grace began cleaning and organizing the store as a way to be useful. Evans demonstrated his appreciation for Grace’s work when he discouraged a fellow shop owner trying to lure Grace into working for him. Then, Evans also raised Grace’s salary. He showed interest in her well-being when she agreed to have tea with George Anderson by telling her George was a good man. He warned her not to rush and marry before the war started.

After Viv, Grace’s best friend, went to serve in the active military and Weatherford’s son, Colin, was killed in the war, Grace began talking to Evans more and more about her fear that she was not doing enough to help with the war effort. Evans encouraged her to volunteer as an air raid warden. When Grace arrived at the store one morning to find Evans drunk, he admitted that Grace reminded him of his daughter, Alice, who was killed in a car crash. Evans had begun to think of Grace as a daughter and was afraid he might lose her as well. Grace promised to be careful, but she would not give up the job.

As bombings became more frequent, Grace began reading to a group of people who took cover in the Farringdon Station air-raid shelter. The stories distracted them from the devastation taking place outside. One day a man from the group told Grace she had saved his life. Instead of going to the Marble Arch Station, closer to the area where he was working, he walked to Farringdon because he wanted to hear more of the story. The Marble Arch Station had been hit by a bomb. Many of the people inside were killed. Even on the days when there were no afternoon air raids, the people began meeting at the bookstore to hear Grace read.

Evans died of a heart attack and left his store to Grace because he had no living relatives. Just a week later, the store was damaged by Nazi bombs. Grace felt grief and guilt because she believed she had not taken proper care of Evans’ legacy. As Grace was trying to clean the store, the group of people to whom she read each afternoon arrived. She warned them it might be their last reading together. After Grace finished reading, the man who told her she had saved his life gathered his fellow construction workers to make the necessary repairs to save the building. The others helped to clean and repair the shelves. Because the other bookstores in the area had all been destroyed by bombs, Grace’s store was designated the last bookshop in London.