“Wait—one more thing.” Before anyone could stop him, Jimmy ran forward and plucked the brush from the pot. He turned around, blocking what he’d written and stepped aside with a cheeky grin.

Below Grace’s welcome to all was a roughly scrawled statement, defiantly proclaiming, “Except Hitler.”

They all had a fine laugh at that while the men put the new sign above the door to the shop.

Sarah tugged at Grace’s skirt.

“What is it, dearest?” she asked of the child.

Sarah gazed up at her, bright blue eyes imploring. “Will you read to us now?”

But it wasn’t only Sarah who looked at Grace with expectation, so did everyone else, tired but eager.

“Nothing would make me happier.” Grace led them all to the glossy black door. “Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to The Last Bookshop in London.”

Amid the cheer that rose up, she led them into the store where she took her place on the second step up. She hesitated a moment there, scanning all the faces who had made not only the bookshop whole, but also her heart. Her gaze flicked to the history section where Mr. Evans had often sequestered himself, and for a fleeting moment she felt him then as surely as if he truly was there.

She smiled through her tears, opened her book and began to read, bringing them all along with her to a world where there were no bombs. There might be loss, and sometimes there may be fear, but there was also courage to face such challenges.

For in a world such as theirs, with people of spirit and love, and with so many different tales of strength and victory to inspire, there would always be hope.

EPILOGUE

JUNE 1945

Farringdon Station was filled with soldiers and civilians, the latter of whom had arrived in their best clothes, which wasn’t saying much with the ration of clothing that had been going on for several years. Grace was no different as she waited in a blue dress with a dusting of small white flowers along a hem that had begun to fade.

She didn’t often leave the bookshop, especially not when it had become so busy. While “The Last Bookshop in London” had great sentiment behind it, she had officially renamed the shop to Evans & Bennett, now painted on a robin’s egg blue sign which hung over the doorway. The store had maintained a strong following through the war, with most she considered more friend than patron. Today, however, was worth having Jimmy mind the shop in her absence.

He’d become a talented assistant, eager to help and almost as voracious a reader as Grace. It wasn’t uncommon for him to slip off between the shelves to lose himself into a story. The act reminded her so much of Mr. Evans that she couldn’t bring herself to reprimand him.