My Name is Anton

It’s 1965, and life has taken a turn for eighteen-year-old Anton Addison-Rice. Nearly a year after his brother died in a tragic accident, Anton is still wounded―physically and emotionally. Alone for the holidays, he catches a glimpse of his neighbor Edith across the street one evening and realizes that she’s in danger.

Anton is determined to help Edith leave her abusive marriage. Frightened and fifteen years Anton’s senior, Edith is slow to trust. But when she needs a safe place to stay, she lets down her guard, and over the course of ten days an unlikely friendship grows. As Anton falls hopelessly and selflessly in love, Edith fears both her husband finding her and Anton getting hurt. She must disappear without telling anyone where she’s going―even Anton.If keeping Edith safe means letting her go, Anton will say goodbye forever. Or so he believes. What would happen, though, if one day their paths should cross again?  (this is the Amazon blurb)

I basically read this book in a day.  It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  My kitchen was cleaned up.  I was not quite ready to jump in on Christmas.  And I felt like knitting.  I was not mesmerized.  The book was interesting to read but not my favorite book that I had ever read.  Still I turn them off if they are not of interest.  Edith was Anton's love of his life!  There is no doubt about that fact.  That is the basis of this book.  There is nothing that Anton does in his life that is not with Edith's well being and happiness in his mind. Can anyone be that unselfish?  Wow!

 

The Last Bookshop in London

Inspired by the true World War II history of the few bookshops to survive the Blitz, The Last Bookshop in London is a timeless story of wartime loss, love, and the enduring power of literature.

August 1939: London is dismal under the weight of impending war with Germany as Hitler’s forces continue to sweep across Europe. Into this uncertain maelstrom steps Grace Bennett, young and ready for a fresh start in the bustling city streets she’s always dreamed of - and miles away from her troubled past in the countryside.

With aspirations of working at a department store, Grace never imagined she’d wind up employed at Primrose Hill, an offbeat bookshop nestled in the heart of the city - after all, she’s never been much of a reader. Overwhelmed with organizing the cluttered store, she doesn’t have time to read the books she sells. But when one is gifted to her, what starts as an obligation becomes a passion that draws her into the incredible world of literature.

As the Blitz rains down bombs on the city night after night, a devastating attack leaves the libraries and shops of London’s literary center in ruins. Miraculously, Grace’s bookshop survives the firestorm. Through blackouts and air raids, Grace continues running the shop, discovering a newfound comfort in the power of words and storytelling that unites her community in ways she never imagined - a force that triumphs over even the darkest nights of war-torn London. 

The above is the Amazon information for this book.  I can't remember when the books about World War II began to appeal to me.  I had never had interest .....but then I began to read.  I think perhaps because my generation knew the men who had fought in that war and survived, it did not feel like history.  But what I have discovered is that each book zeroes into a different perspective of the war and I like looking under the microscope at each story that make up the story of the war.  This seemed at first like a mediocre tale about what was happening in London. BUT the author took the story and ran with it.  WOW!  I found it to be an exceptional read.  Each of the characters has a story that one can identify with.  But the highlight is the experience that Grace lives through as a Warden on the streets of London during the terrible bombs!

I would add at the finish of the book that I also take away from the story that one does not have to "go off to war" to make great contributions to the situation.  Grace does her part in her own neighborhood in her own way and is a hero because of her contribution.