Shrewsbury Library book is returned . . . 36 years overdue

A mystery borrower dropped off the long-overdue paperback at Shrewsbury library on Wednesday.

Entitled 'And the Dawn Came Up Like Thunder', it was written by Leo Rawlings and describes the experiences of prisoners of war in Japan during the Second World War.

It should have been returned on October 9, 1976.

Shropshire Library Service charges 20p for every day a book is overdue.

By this reckoning, the borrower had built up an outstanding fine of more than £2,600 but officials said they would not be pursuing the cash.

Glyn Risely, an assistant at the Castle Street library said staff initially thought the book had been returned by mistake.

He said: "At first we thought it was someone's own book but then we saw the stamp and the due date. We just don't have a clue who dropped it off but it is a Shropshire library book.

"Maybe someone was having a clear-out and found it and brought it back," he added.

Mr Risely said the borrower would not have been expected to pay the fine.

"It is certainly quite a record-breaking amount of time," he added.

"It is slightly yellow paperback and we won't be putting it back on the shelves."

Copies of Leo Rawling's book, first published in 1972, are available online with good condition specimens on sale for more than £40.

An Amazon review describes it as:?"An exceptional testimony to the courage and suffering of those who were POWs on the Burma-Siam Railway.

"Although it is not a literary book, like Eric Lomax's "The Railway Man", the rawness of Rawlings' prose compells the reader's empathy and compassion. What makes this book unique is that Rawlings was an artist and this book is full of his pictures - made at the time, under the most horrific and dangerous conditions.

"They are stark, realistic and paradoxically compassionate. He most eloquently pays tribute to his comrades and makes us confront their sufferings.

In 2011, staff at a National Trust owned stately home in the Lake District unearthed what was believed to be the most overdue library book in Britain.

The Victorian miscellany Good Words for 1888 was borrowed from the Troutbeck Institute library shortly after it was first published. But it was never returned.

* Are YOU the mystery Shropshire book reader? Get in touch on (01952) 242424.

By Catherine Ferris