LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
With layers of intrigue, this captivating debut historical novel ultimately focuses on the power of inclusivity, hope, and love. Florence talks her way into a bookbinding commission at Rose Hall in 1896, on learning of the suspicious death of Lord Belfield’s wife, she determines to find answers. Even though this is clearly a historical novel, there is a timelessness to the issues within and the way they have been written. Author Kuchenga Shenje has created a number of themes, some of them emotionally dark and challenging. She writes with compassion and empathy without shying away from the difficult times contained within. Topics of friendship, love and hate, and inclusivity and prejudice, also sit alongside the main mystery. The library of books, bookbinding, and books mentioned helps to create a real sense of place. I connected with Florence as a narrator, it feels as though this is a coming of age story as she explores possibilities and her own potential. She is full of kindness, with the levels of tenacity and self-assurance needed to make her own way in a world. The main mystery itself flows through the novel, creating waves of tension. From this, offshoots of secrets and lies slip and slide into place creating further twists within the story. As I read the final few chapters my emotions settled and I felt a sense of satisfaction. With multiple themes and a central mystery, The Library Thief is a rewarding historical novel.
Liz Robinson
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The Library Thief Synopsis
An extraordinary historical debut for any reader who loves gothic mysteries like Rebecca and Fingersmith, and fiction which shines a light on untold stories.
The library is under lock and key. But its secrets can't be contained.
After he brought her home from Jamaica as a baby, Florence's father had her hair hot-combed to make her look like the other girls. But as a young woman, Florence is not so easy to tame - and when she brings scandal to his door, the bookbinder throws her onto the streets of Manchester.
Intercepting her father's latest commission, Florence talks her way into the remote, forbidding Rose Hall to restore its collection of rare books. Lord Francis Belfield's library is old and full of secrets - but none so intriguing as the whispers about his late wife.
Then one night, the library is broken into. Strangely, all the priceless tomes remain untouched. Florence is puzzled, until she discovers a half-burned book in the fireplace. She realises with horror that someone has found and set fire to the secret diary of Lord Belfield's wife - which may hold the clue to her fate . . .
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781408726846 |
| Publication date: |
9th April 2024 |
| Author: |
Kuchenga Shenjé |
| Publisher: |
Sphere an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
400 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Historical Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Kuchenga Shenjé Press Reviews
A tantalising read that swells with secrecy and intrigue. It's hard to believe that Kuchenga Shenjé writes of the past, and not of the present. A beautifully and skilfully written debut -- CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS, author of QUEENIE
Powerful, sagacious and warm, The Library Thief is both a gripping, multi-layered mystery and a gorgeously absorbing novel that demanded I return to its pages whenever I had the audacity to set it down. Without a doubt, Shenjé's wholly original debut has bestseller written all over it -- JOANNE BURN, author of The Hemlock Cure
A compelling novel that starts as a mystery and grows into a coming-of-age story, examining identity, belonging, loneliness and friendship within the restrictive and stifling world of late Victorian society. The Library Thief is filled with fantastically drawn characters and with a love of books that shines through the prose -- KATIE LUMSDEN, author of THE SECRETS OF HARTWOOD HALL
Author
About Kuchenga Shenjé
Kuchenga Shenjé is a writer, journalist and speaker with work on many media platforms including Stylist, British Vogue and Netflix. She has contributed short stories and essays to several anthologies, most notably It's Not OK to Feel Blue (And Other Lies), Who's Loving You and Loud Black Girls.
Owing to a lifelong obsession with books and the written word, Kuchenga studied Creative Writing at The Open University. Her work is focused on the perils of loving, being loved and women living out loud throughout the ages. Her first novel The Library Thief is the ultimate marriage of her passions for history, mystery and rebels.
She currently resides in Manchester where she is determined to continue living a life worth writing about.
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