The Paris Library

You can tell that I must be longing to travel as here I am with another book set in Paris. Rather than a bookstore, this one revolves around the staff and patrons of the American Library of Paris and is informed by the author's time spent as program director at that formidable institution. Janet Skeslien Charles (https://www.jskesliencharles.com/behind-the-book) deftly blends the stories of her fictional characters with the actual employees who courageously held the library together, making sure it remained open and serving the public while Paris was under German occupation during World War II.

Librarians and book lovers will delight in the apt presentation of every day life in a general service library, the favorite patrons who consistently stake out their corners, the questions that are posed at a busy reference desk, and the politics of pleasing the Friends who donate time and money while standing firm on

policies. But besides offering up ample quotes from your favorite literature and touting the Dewey Decimal System, Charles tackles universal social issues and the pressing moral dilemmas of the time. 

It's 1939 and Odile Souchet, a smart, well-read, ambitious young woman wants nothing more than to escape the prison of her old-fashioned family who expect her to marry and have babies by the time she is twenty. When she lands the position at the library she is ecstatic and we watch her blossom under the tutelage of Miss Reeder, the library's director. Years later Odile is living in Montana, mentoring Lily, another young woman who dreams of leaving the constraints of her small town and limited expectations.  

How Odile morphs from passionate librarian, engaged to Paul an officer in the French Commissariat, to reclusive Montana widow is a story that I don't think you'll see coming. It is a tale of resistance, of librarians smuggling books to Jewish patrons who are no longer allowed in the building, of the verboten love affair between a British aristocrat and a German soldier, and of the best and worst of human nature during wartime in an occupied city. It is a novel about those who betray their ideals and those who find redemption in forgiveness. And it's a story about those who find solace in the written word. In other words, it has all the qualities we love for a lively book discussion. Look for it this winter - February 2021. This is a winner!