Includes reader's extras: The true story of the mysterious stolen letters ; Author's note ; Book club kit ; Reading list ; The lost art of letter writing ; Eat like an islander ; Inspirational islanders ; Postscript ; The price of bravery ; Places to visit.

Includes bibliographical references.

"Jersey, 1943. Once a warm and neighbourly community, now German soldiers patrol the cobbled streets, imposing a harsh rule on the people of the island. Grace La Motťe, the island's only librarian, is ordered to destroy books which threaten the new regime. Instead, she hides the stories away in secret. Along with her headstrong best friend, postwoman Bea Rose, she wants to fight back. So she forms the wartime book club: a lifeline, offering fearful islanders the joy and escapism of reading. But as the occupation drags on, the women's quiet acts of bravery become more perilous--and more important--than ever before. And, when tensions turn to violence, they are forced to face the true, terrible cost of resistance"--Back cover.