Just when readers think there could be no new stories
about World War II, Janice Skeslien Charles comes along with a book about the
role of librarians at the American Library in Paris during the war in The Paris
Library. Based on the stories of real librarians of the ALP, the book explores
the themes of friendship, family, betrayal, and the power of literature.
Told on two interwoven timelines – the war years in
Paris and 1983 in Froid, Montana – widowed Odile Souchet is a curiosity to her
neighbor, teenage Lily. Odile keeps to herself causing Lily to create a school
project to about France, Odile’s native country, to learn more about her
mysterious neighbor.
Unbeknownst to Lily, Odile had been a librarian in the
American Library in Paris during the war years. The daughter of a policeman,
Odile had a young police officer as a boyfriend, and her brother Remy was a
soldier in the war. Working with her colleagues, Odile became a part of the
Resistance using books as her “weapons.”
Her boss, the real-life Dorothy Reeder, had already organized a service
to get books into the hands of soldiers serving anywhere. Odile and her
colleagues made deliveries to those Jewish subscribers who were restricted from
the library by the Nazis. Terrible betrayals -- one done to her and one she
inadvertently caused – drove Odile from France, her parents, and her friends to
a very different life in Montana.
Although Odile has been a recluse since her husband
died, Lily has slowly drawn her out into the world again. The two grow close by
their common interests, and Odile began to teach Lily the French language. She
becomes Lily’s companion when Lily’s mother died and her father returned to
work.
Her overwhelming curiosity causes Lily to betray
Odile, who once again withdraws from society. Odile no longer opens her door to
Lily and even skips Mass to avoid the girl. How will Lily ever be able to win
Odile over again and learn about this forlorn women’s past?
Janice Skeslien Charles has crafted her locales from
places she lives as she divides her time between Paris and Montana. She became
interested in the librarians of the American Library in Paris when she worked
there herself in 2010. The Paris Library is her second book following her debut
novel, Moonlight in Odessa.
My review will be posted on Goodreads starting
December 7, 2020.
I would like to thank Atria Books and Simon and
Schuster for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.
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