In A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus, William, 12, Edmund, 11, and Anna, 9, live in 1940 England. Their parents died when William was 5. “The grandmother” had charge of them since, but she sent them off to boarding school and was cold and aloof when they were home.

Now the grandmother has died as well. The family solicitor, Mr. Engersoll, explains that the children have been left a lot of money, but no one has been named as their guardian. Apparently there is no one to ask. The children plead to stay with the family’s housekeeper, Mrs. Collins, but she’s too old to take them in.

Mr. Engersoll suggests that the children join evacuees being sent to the country. Perhaps the foster parents they find might take them in permanently. The children are advised not to tell anyone that they are alone in the world or that their family has money, so they don’t get taken advantage of.

The children agree with what Mrs. Collins calls “the preposterous plan,” as there seems to be no other option.

The children are billeted together first with one family, then another. I don’t want to spoil the story by telling what went on in those places, but neither is suitable.

The children spend many afternoons in the town library. Books have always been their friends, and the warmth and quietness of the library provide a refuge. The kind interest of the librarian, Mrs. Muller, makes the place even more welcome.

It’s not long, however, before they discern Mrs. Muller is something of an outcast. She’s married to a German man who has disappeared.

The children wish they could stay with Mrs. Muller, despite her husband’s possible Nazi leanings.

This story starts out like a classic fairy tale, with children alone in the world having to overcome various difficulties. I had thought it was a young adult book, but Amazon recommends it for grades 4-7.

I don’t often read secular books for this age group, but the Story Warren and Hope both spoke well of this story, piquing my interest. I agree with C. S. Lewis that a good children’s book can be enjoyed by adults as well. When the title came up temporarily free from Audible. I gave it a try.

I’m so glad I did. I loved this book. The story is well-told and the characters are beautifully drawn. Descriptions of both warm and cozy and difficult scenes make you feel you are experiencing them along with the children. References to beloved classic children’s books are scattered throughout. Polly Lee’s British accent enhanced the audiobook. I didn’t want the book to end.

Some of my favorite quotes:

The first words of a new book are so delicious—like the first taste of a cookie fresh from the oven and not yet properly cooled.

The librarian took this all in, standing by the fire and observing the children for a while, letting the silence be. Somehow, it didn’t feel awkward, the way silences often do. Perhaps librarians are more used to quiet than most.

William, Edmund, and Anna knew, somewhere deep in the place where we know things that we cannot say aloud, that they had never lived in the sort of home one reads about in stories – one of warmth and affection and certainty in the knowledge that someone believes you hung the moon.

Edmund took in the boy’s mended jacket, the eyes underlined in shadows, the skin above his upper lip chapped raw from a dripping nose gone unattended, and saw the sort of hunger whose endlessness digs a pit in a person. Being eleven, Edmund wouldn’t have put it quite in those words, but he recognized it nonetheless.

While she wasn’t sure of the precise definition of the word “bibliophile,” Anna was certain it meant something that she wanted to be.

The stealing of sweets, after all, is an act committed only by those with unspeakably black souls.

The smell of the cookies filled the children with a warmth that can only come from the magnificent alchemy of butter and sugar.

Truth be told, Anna was rather giving away the ending, but sometimes one cannot help oneself.

Anna thought of offering up a hearty platter of I told you so, but she didn’t. Why foul perfection with such a sharp thing as bitterness?

This is a lovely book. Not fluffy bunny and serene landscape lovely, but a wonderful tale beautifully told.