The Library at the Edge of the World

This contemporary story about a small-town librarian blooms in the capable hands of narrator Emma Lowe, whose soft Irish lilt gives listeners a strong sense of place. After leaving her wealthy, cheating husband in London, middle-aged Hanna returns to rural Ireland, where she lives with her widowed mother and runs the town library with quiet efficiency. When the local tourist board proposes to revamp the high street, Hanna finds herself the unwitting leader of a grassroots rebellion. Lowe's nuanced characterizations emphasize the townsfolk's quirky personalities--Hanna's nagging mother, the crotchety local builder, the enthusiastic library assistant, and a gentle elderly nun, for example--and highlight Hanna's slowly developing courage and self-awareness. The audiobook has a few twists as Lowe's careful pacing guides listeners through the charming story. C.B.L. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine