Thank you again for reading The Last Library.
Best wishes and happy reading,
Freya
A Final Note
If you’d like to learn more about The Last Library and what I’m working on next, then please do sign up to my newsletter at https://freya-sampson.com. I send out the newsletter monthly and in it I share all my latest news and book recommendations, plus there are giveaways and excerpts. The newsletter is also the place I share lots of exclusive updates, so if you want to be the first to know about my future books, or to see my covers before anyone else, you know what to do. Of course, it goes without saying that all your information is entirely confidential.
You can also find me on social media, where I’m @FreyaSampsonAuthor on Instagram and Facebook and @SampsonF on Twitter. I love hearing from readers, so please do reach out to say hello.
Lastly, a gentle request that if you enjoyed The Last Library, please consider leaving the book a review on sites like Amazon and Goodreads. Reviews are a huge help to authors, especially debuts like me. Thank you so much!
Reading Group Questions
1. The Chalcot Library sits at the heart of the local community. How is community as a theme looked at in this novel?
2. How does this novel look at grief?
3. Why do you think June clings on to so many things from the past? What role does memory play in this novel?
4. The library in this book is in a small village. How do you think the story would be different if it were set in a local library in a large town or city instead?
5. Although June is twenty-six years old, The Last Library explores a lot of big changes in her life. To what extent do you think it is a coming-of-age story?
6. Who was your favourite character apart from June?
7. June, Stanley, Vera and several other characters in the book live fairly solitary lives. How does The Last Library look at loneliness, and how does the library help those who feel alone?
8. What other books featuring reading and books have you read?
9. The book’s opening line is: ‘You can tell a lot about a person from the library books they borrow’. What are your favourite books, and what do you think they say about you?
10. Do you use your local library? Would you like to use it more?
11. June must break the rules to save the library. Have you ever had to bend the rules to work towards a bigger purpose? How did that make you feel?
12. In times of stress, June finds comfort in re-reading favourite books from her childhood, like Matilda. What were the books that shaped you as a child?
13. Do you think reading as a child affects your relationships with books in later life?
First published in the UK in 2021 by
ZAFFRE
An imprint of Bonnier Books UK
4th Floor, Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, London, England, WC1B 4DA
Owned by Bonnier Books
Sveavägen 56, Stockholm, Sweden
Copyright © Freya Sampson, 2021
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The right of Freya Sampson to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978–1–83877–371–1
Hardback ISBN: 978–1–83877–369–4
Also available as an audiobook
Typeset by IDSUK (Data Connection) Ltd
Zaffre is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK
www.bonnierbooks.co.uk
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