ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – 25 Library Terrace by Natalie Fergie
25 Library Terrace by Natalie Fergie is published by Embla Books and is out now. My thanks to the publishers for the review copy which I was particularly grateful to receive as I had originally pledged for this book with Unbound who have now collapsed leaving their authors and anyone who pledged for their books in the lurch.
You can find my review of Natalie’s first book The Sewing Machine, here.
Have you ever wondered about all the people who lived in your house before you?
25 Library Terrace in Edinburgh is a house where lives are changed.
In 1911, new resident Ursula Black embraces women’s suffrage in the form of census protest, discovers vegetarianism, and learns just how difficult it can be to bring up someone else’s children.
In 1931, the house becomes part of a radical experiment in a different way of living, and a family secret from the past is uncovered.
In 2011, Tess Dutton needs somewhere to live in the wake of a failed relationship, and is introduced to a rather unusuallandlady.
In 2022, delayed by the pandemic, it’s another census year for Scotland, and as Edinburgh’s residents are able to gather once more, the strands of four generations at 25 Library Terrace are finally woven together.
An enchanting book club read, filled with history and human stories, for fans of Mary Paulson-Ellis’ Edinburgh novels, Evie Woods, Sally Page and Liz Trenow.
25 Library Terrace is the sort of book that immediately grabs my attention. It follows the lives of the inhabitants of the eponymous house over the course of over one hundred years. We begin with Tess Dutton in 2011 who, after a bad end to her relationship, needs somewhere to stay, to rest and to get her confidence back. She is directed towards Georgia, owner of 25 Library Terrace and so the story begins and takes us back to 1911 and the first owners of the house.
There are themes of women’s rights and suffragettes throughout the whole novel. There’s also a focus on the census and recording who was living in the house for various of the ten-yearly recordings. I particularly enjoyed the more historical aspects of the story and the metamorphosis that the house goes through from family home to something more of a refuge (albeit not quite the type you might be imagining). Whilst not an enormous house, it’s big enough to have a maid in the early years and I liked the ‘upstairs downstairs’ viewpoints and the descriptions of the scullery and maid’s stairs against the more comfortable and luxuriant areas of the building. There’s a floor plan at the front for those who like that sort of thing (which I very much do).
I found this to be an engaging story of the lives lived in one home through two world wars, votes for women and a pandemic. It will be of particular interest to those who enjoy reading about how homes were run and food was prepared. I can also recommend Natalie Fergie’s first book, The Sewing Machine.
Natalie Fergie lives near Edinburgh. After a 25-year career in nursing, she set up a textiles business and spent ten years making and selling hand-dyed yarn and embroidery threads. Her debut novel, The Sewing Machine, was published by Unbound in 2017, and became a word-of-mouth bestseller, featuring at #4 on the Scottish bestseller lists in April 2019. She is now planning her third novel.