The Astral Library by Kate Quinn

What could be more fun for someone whose first library card came from the Boston Public Library than a book set at its iconic headquarters in Copley Square? When I heard that Kate Quinn was launching The Astral Library at WGBH-Boston where I sometimes volunteer, I offered to help at the event and persuaded my friend Susan to come as well. It was billed as an engaging conversation with the New York Times bestselling author, Quinn, moderated by fellow bestseller and her friend, G.R. Macallister. I was not familiar with Macallister, who has written a bestselling fantasy series called The Five Queendoms, but she seemed congenial.

Alix Watson leads a bleak existence in Boston, hanging on by a financial thread as she juggles part-time low-paying jobs and sleeping on an acquaintance’s couch. When she loses her job, her inadequate (but better than nothing) home, she has nowhere to go but the Reading Room at the Boston Public Library, even though her boss doesn’t have any shelving hours for her. But things pick up when (like many a protagonist) she accidentally goes through a magic portal and discovers an alternate world where people take refuge in their favorite books.

“All right,” she said. “The rules. Say you want to go live in Pride and Prejudice –“

“I don’t.” I’d read it, but I didn’t fantasize about going there. No dragons, no magic, and those high waists weren’t really a good look on me.

“No interest in Pride and Prejudice? Well, that’s a change,” she muttered. “You know how many women I’ve shepherded into Meryton with their bonnets and reticules? I’m all for Austen, but read another books, ladies.

At first, Alix thinks this is a dream come true but then she learns that even the magical Reading Room has enemies. Can she play a part in defending its mission and very existence?

Although the book Alix carries with her everywhere is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, this book has more in common with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Quinn told us that she earned two degrees from BU and got to know the Boston Public Library while she was living nearby. When she had the idea of a having a heroine travel into a world of books (a big change from the historical fiction for which she is known), she decided to avoid controversy by choosing only books in the public domain, except for a mention of Macallister’s books (with the author’s permission). Her father read to her often as a child, including C.S. Lewis and L. Frank Baum. One of her favorites was Patricia Wrede’s Dealing with Dragons series. She mentioned an adult favorite I’d never heard of called The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge.

The BPL Reading Room

The Astral Library is clearly a place we’d all like to visit – in addition to the books, there are little reading nooks, with deep green armchairs, fleecy lambswool blankets, and just-brewed tea and snacks. While I enjoyed the book adventures, I was more interested in Alix’s precarious situation and need for stability. She has one friend, Beau Sato-Jones, a handsome costume designer with a shop on Newbury Street and big dreams. As she helps the acerbic Librarian of the Reading Room rescue people in danger and becomes a target herself, Alix refuses to be bullied, gains confidence in her own decision making, and ultimately triumphs.

I liked the concept, the glorification of books and libraries, and appreciated that The Astral Library is a much-needed refuge for those with nowhere else to go, beginning with Alix. I did think the story dragged in the middle – the book visits simply did not hold my interest as much as one would have thought.  On the other hand, it is a tribute to one of my favorite places in Boston!

Checking in and chatting with the guests at the event, many of whom had brought copies of Quinn’s earlier books to get autographed, was entertaining. I think some of us wished she had stuck to historical fiction, but we agreed it was an interesting change of pace for her.  And I do like a good orphan story!

Title: The Astral Library
Author: Kate Quinn
Publication: William Morrow, hardcover, 2026
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
Source: Library