By Allen Eskens
AN ASTONISHING NOVEL WITH AN AMAZING FEMALE CHARACTER
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hana Babic is a quiet, dowdy librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing but to be left alone. This middle-aged woman prefers to be invisible. When a St. Paul police officer comes to the library to tell Hana that her best friend of many years, Amina, has been murdered in her apartment. Hana is stunned. She believes that whoever killed Amina may be coming after her next. Hana’s search for answers leads to another time and place: a war in Bosnia 30 years ago. For her, it is a time full of secrets and painful memories she would prefer to forget.
The extraordinary story is told in an alternating timeline between Bosnia starting in 1977 and Minnesota now, over 30 years later. The story is extraordinary.
I am exhausted by the number of books published in recent years with female protagonists in war sagas. Just when I thought I could not read another historical fiction war story, along came this one, and I am so very glad I read it. The Quiet Librarian has one of the best female characters I have read in a while. She is realistic, loyal, has strong family ties, and has plenty of courage and perseverance—hats off to Allen Esken’s creation of this wonderfully stoic character.
Esken’s writing is gut-wrenching and brilliantly plotted. He embroils us in Hana’s life and takes us on her heart-stopping journey. I could not put this book down. It would be a great book club pick. Esken captures the Bosnian culture, times, and circumstances of the war through first-hand accounts from two very real women who survived it.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher Mulholland Books
Published February 18, 2025
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
Comments