BLOG TOUR: From the Library with Love – Podcast Review

Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours and author Kate Thompson for the invitation to take part in this unusual blog tour.

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MY REVIEW:

“Ordinary People with extraordinary stories to share.”

Today I’m taking part in a blog tour with a difference and reviewing an episode taken from the new podcast, From the Library With Love. 

Do you remember being 12 years old? For me it was a memorable year as it was the year my family relocated from our home in Sheffield to Bournemouth. I can vividly remember the excitement, trepidation and fear as I moved to this strange place where I’d have to leave everything I knew and make new friends. I missed my extended family and my friends, but I was comforted by having my parents and younger brother with me. Now imagine being that same age and having to move to a new country where you don’t speak the language and are completely alone. That was the reality for Gabriele Weiss, now  Keenaghan, when she boarded a train in Vienna in the dead of night and fled for the safety of Britain in April 1939 as part of the Kindertransport scheme, which was the organised rescue effort to rescue children living in Nazi-controlled territories and relocate them during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Now 97, Gabriele tells her remarkable story in what is one of the most moving and memorable interviews I’ve ever heard. 

Her story starts in Vienna, where she was born in 1926 to a Christian mother and Jewish father. When she was just eight years old her mother died and she went to live with her maternal grandmother as her father had to work away in the Jewish district. Though the Nazis were initially welcomed when they marched into Vienna in March 1938, things quickly took a turn for the worse and Gabriele became a target so, unbeknownst to her, her grandmother began making secret plans to get her out of the country to safety. This is a story of sacrifice, courage and resilience. A story that is harrowing at some times, hopeful and heartwarming at others. She is an extraordinary and inspiring woman whose story needs to be heard. Something that really struck me was how Gabriele is so full of positivity and gratitude, seeing the good in people even after everything she’s been through. 

The creator and host of this podcast is author Kate Thompson, who started From the Library With Love after embarking on a challenge to speak to one library worker for each of the 100 years Bethnal Green Public Library had been open. The story of that library becoming an Underground library during the Blitz was the basis of The Little Wartime Library, which I read last year. She launched the podcast – or as she’d rather call them, ‘talking stories’- in August, and as someone who has always loved true stories I knew this was right up my street. Kate is a fantastic interviewer. She is empathetic, knowledgeable,  asks great questions, gives Gabriele space to talk and you can tell she is really listening to her answers. When I was listening it felt like I was in the room with two friends who were just having a chat, albeit about something truly exceptional. 

Powerful, poignant, warm and unforgettable, this is a podcast everyone should listen to. It does get emotional though so I recommend having tissues nearby, as I will do when I binge the remaining episodes later today. Thank you, Kate, for creating this podcast and allowing these important stories to be heard. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

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LINK TO THE PODCAST:

ttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/from-the-library-with-love/id1705546837

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MEET THE AUTHOR

Kate Thompson was born in London and worked as a journalist for twenty years on women’s magazines and national newspapers. She now lives in Sunbury with her husband, two sons and two rescue dogs. After ghost writing five memoirs, Kate moved into fiction. Kate’s first non-fiction social history documenting the forgotten histories of East End matriarchy, The Stepney Doorstep Society, was published in 2018 by Penguin. She is passionate about capturing lost voices and untold social histories.

Today Kate works as a journalist, author and library campaigner. Her most recent books, The Little Wartime Library (2022) and The Wartime Book Club (2023) by Hodder & Stoughton focus on two remarkable libraries in wartime. Her 100 libraries project, celebrates the richness and complexity of librarians work and the vital role of libraries in our communities.

Podcast host – From the Library With Love. Interviews with librarians, best-sellling authors and our remarkable wartime generation.

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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles xxxx

Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the blog tour.