I’ve read close to 200 historical novels set during WWII, and believe me, there are many recurring plots. However, “The Paris Library” by Janet Skeslien Charles brings a new angle to this period of history which has long fascinated me.

Odile, a young French librarian, begins working at the American Library of Paris shortly before the Germans invade France. The library is her love and offers stability at an uncertain time. Odile’s twin brother joins the Army and is soon captured. Meanwhile, the Bibliotheksschutz (Nazi officer in charge of libraries) makes changes to library operations. However, the staff resists – and when Jewish subscribers are no longer allowed into the library, the librarians smuggle books to their homes.

This is a dual timeline novel: WWII Paris and 1980s Montana--where an elderly Odile has opportunity to re-experience jealousy, suspicion, and betrayal, this time in her relationship with a neighborhood teenager.

The author knows whereof she writes, having been employed at the American Library of Paris herself. 2020 was the centennial for the ALP, as well as the original publication date for this novel, delayed by the pandemic.

“The Paris Library” is a fitting homage to the libraries and librarians. Anyone who loves books will want to see how brave librarians undermined the oppressive Nazi regime in the cause of intellectual freedom. They will also smile at universal library antics and humor. (E.g. “Of course, he knew something was wrong, he was a librarian—part psychologist, bartender, bouncer, and detective.”) It’s also a fun way to test your knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

Historical fiction is a genre that never fails to disappoint me and I knew as soon as I received this book that it would be something special. Little did I know just how much I would be able to relate to it now.

I love dual timelines and this one was done so well. I was equally invested in both and found myself quite upset when the story would switch from one to the other because even though I was eager to get back to the other timeline, I also didn't want to leave where we were, if that makes sense. I also loved how as the story moves forward, we slowly get all the pieces of Odile's mysterious past and again, as I mentioned in an earlier review, these historical mysteries are really becoming my jam!

I've never read anything before about The American Library in Paris, so this was a huge treat for me but it was also so interesting how the library handled things during WWII. I didn't realize that the Germans tried to take over the library and forced mandates on who could use the library during that time. Luckily the librarians were willing to bend the rules to make sure everyone was able to read who wanted to as they believe books provided a source of comfort during an uncertain time, much like they have done for us now during our pandemic. Reading provided an escape from all that was going on, a way to shut out the real world for a little while. Does this sound familiar to anyone right now?

This book grabbed me and didn't let go. It delves into relationships we forge during tough times, the choices we make, and how we learn to live with those choices. This book is one I won't be forgetting anytime soon. If you love historical fiction, I highly recommend picking this one up...you won't regret it!

This was such a marvelous book! It has books, it's set in the most beautiful city in the world (Paris) as well as Montana, USA, and it has love and friendship - even unlikely friendships. Although I didn't see where the "dark secret from their past" connected them from the blurb, I did love Odile and Lily's friendship. I loved Odile's story and it broke my heart and also I loved Lily's teen angst story. This book pulled me in and I wanted to keep reading until there was nothing left and all the secrets were uncovered. The characters were so vividly described and the story was beautifully written - if you enjoy historic fiction, you'll love this book

The story is told in two different time lines. It is 1939 Paris and Odile has just graduated from library school. She is obsessed with the Dewey Decimal System and loves the order it brings to chaos. She dreams of working in the American Library in Paris with no interest in the suitors her family presents at Sunday dinner until Paul. During the War her and the rest of her co-workers struggle to keep the library open and safe from the Nazi's, delivering boxes of books to soldiers on the front and delivering to the Jews who are banned from the library. The library is filled with a colorful cast including Miss Reeder, the director, who is determined to stay in Paris even though she is American. Bitsi is the children's librarian who falls in love with Remy, Odile's twin. Margaret is a rich woman whose husband is a diplomat and a cad. In order to find some meaning to her life she becomes an invaluable volunteer at the library and close friends with Odile.

The second time line is in Froid, Montana, in the 1980's. Odile is living alone and rarely leaves the house but Lily, a young girl who lives next door, decides she wants to interview Odile for a school paper and learn what she can about Paris and surprisingly Odile agrees. The two become close and after Lily's mother dies she helps her navigate high school and a new stepmother and two baby brothers.

I found the Odile parts of the book way more interesting than Lily's trying to keep the library open, worry about Remy who was off fighting and her romance with Paul. I felt there were lots of gray areas in the book and moral dilemmas that were dealt with. Many times I would stop and think what would I do in that same situation. I was happy that she found romance but the descriptions would drag at times and felt overly long . I didn't feel the connection they had perhaps because Paul wasn't as developed a character.

Lily's part was interesting. She learned plenty of lessons from Odile, one was learning to speak French, but I wasn't engaged with that. I mean learning French from an older neighbor in Montana just cannot be as riveting as trying to run a library in war torn Paris.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I kept pushing ahead because I wanted to know how Odile ended up in Montana, what happened to Paul and who was sending the crow letters and if it was anyone they knew. I would recommend this to quite a few of my friends.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advance copy.

4.5 Stars

She proffered The Brothers Karamazov. “I wept when I finished.” Her voice swelled with emotion. “First because I was happy to have read it. Second because the story was so moving. Third because I’ll never again experience the discovery of it.”

Wonderful and well-researched story about occupied France. Loved the dual timelines! Highly recommend.

Any bookworm will love this story about the American Library in Paris set during World War II. Odile is a lovely protagonist and her obsession with the Dewey Decimal System was completely relatable. I really loved the dual timeline approach, weaving Odile's story with that of young Lily in Montana several decades later.

There are many historical fiction stories set during WWII and I did find this storyline especially unique. I became immersed in the lives of each of the library's subscribers and with the lives of each of the employees of the library. The love of reading and books bound them all together. I was especially touched by the author's notes, where I learned that many of the characters were based on real-life people, which added a layer of richness to this novel.

Odile was not a perfect heroine but that made her actions all the more realistic. Her family suffers terribly during the German Occupation, like most of France did, but the author really shines when she describes the small, day-to-day details of Parisiennes' lives. How did they survive German brutality and poverty? This book is not all grim, however, and in fact the writing is beautiful and the settings are magical, especially when the author describes Odile's love and reference for reading:

“I ran my fingers along the spines. Choosing one, I opened to a random passage. I never judged a book by its beginning. It felt like the first and last date I’d once had, both of us smiling too brightly. No, I opened to a page in the middle, where the author wasn’t trying to impress me."

This book should be on your list if you are a fan of historical fiction. The world created by Ms. Charles is filled with hope, life and a true love for the magic of books.

(Thank you the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, provided in exchange for an honest review.)

This is about the American Library in Paris and the courageous tasks performed secretly by a variety of staff and volunteers to keep the printed word circulated and preserved in the time of the Nazi regime in France. This book also shows how secrecy can tear apart loved ones and change lives forever. And it shows how friendship can stretch generations and know no bounds.

Resistance in a silent and unlikely place…the importance of books…

Thank you, #NetGalley @AtriaBooks for a complimentary e ARC of #TheParisLibrary upon my request in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Paris Library is a dual timeline story of family, friendship, resistance, romance, betrayal, heroism, bravery, and books. In 1939, idealistic, courageous, and ambitious Odile Souchet works at the American Library in Paris when the Nazis arrive. Odile and the other librarians negotiate to keep the library open so they can protect the books and also make secret deliveries to their Jewish patrons. In 1983, Lily, a lonely teenager living in Montana, befriends a mysterious and reclusive, elderly, French neighbor woman and discovers they have a great deal in common.

I love historical fiction that reveals the actions of brave, real-life heroes. The characters in this story represent the real-life individuals who risked their lives to save the books, to send books to soldiers, and to secretly provide reading material for Jewish patrons.

Dual Timelines: As is so often the case, one timeline is the more compelling in a story. For me, the past timeline was the most engaging and I was always eager to return to it.

In most WW11 stories, we discover powerful themes of resistance. It is amazing to hear about all the ways that every day citizens participated in resistance. …many report that simply staying alive was a satisfying form of resistance. In this story, librarians send books to soldiers, hide banned books, and secretly provide books for patrons who are forbidden from entering the library.

I feel the content of The Paris Library is well researched. In fact, the author worked at the American Library in Paris in 2019 and was able to speak with some members of a few families.

I would have liked even more content about what was going on in Paris during the WW11 years. Because of all my WW11 reading, I could fill in the blanks, but others new to the genre might benefit from the bigger picture.

Thoughtful themes include family loyalty and devotion, friendship, taking risks, resistance, and the love of books and literature. If you love books about books and librarians, you will love this!

Favorite Quote: “We’re Here.” She needed to convince them that the ALP must remain open. “Libraries are lungs,” she scrawled, her pen barely able to keep up with her idea. “Books the fresh air breathed in to keep the heart beating, to keep the brain imagining, to keep hope alive. Subscribers depend on us for news, for community. Soldiers need books, need to know their friends at the Library care. Our work is too important to stop now.”

I enthusiastically recommend The Paris Library for fans of well-told and engaging WW11 histfic, for readers who love books about books and librarians, and for book clubs.

This was such an interesting book! I didn’t know at all about the American Library in Paris and just a quick browsing through their website it just looks amazing! I would absolutely love to visit Paris now if just to see what this library is all about! But onto the actual story here, it’s split between two different points of view, with Odile during World War II and Lily in 1980s Montana. As we spend time with young Odile, and older Odile and Lily, we see how life kind of repeats itself over and over. That is part of the beauty of human life, that we are all relatively similar if we know where to look.

As Odile starts work at the American Library in Paris, she has just about everything that anyone else could ask for: her wonderful job, a handsome police beau, a family that loves her. Yet when the Nazis march into France and into Paris, she starts to realize that all that she loves and holds dear could be easily taken away from her. But she buckles down and fights with the only weapons she really has: books. We see her life through her eyes and feel the things that she is feeling. Odile wants to do what she can to support the Library and the subscribers that depend on the services therein. We see that Odile is a real character with real characters and emotions. I have felt a lot of her emotions and I can sympathize with a lot of them.

With Lily, I was transport back to being a teenage girl in a small town with only a few friends. I honestly didn’t really have many girl friends growing up, I hung out with books more than anyone else until about 10th grade in high school. Even then, my best friend turned into my boyfriend my senior year of high school. And I still turned to books in many ways. I sympathized with a lot of Lily’s feelings of being left behind by her friends, of trying to figure out if a boy liked me or not, and just trying to figure out what I wanted to do in college and plan for life after high school. Janet Skeslien Charles is excellent at catching and writing from both perspectives and one of the best things is how real it felt to learn things from Odile’s eyes towards the end of the war. Both her betrayal and the betrayal it lead to.

This book is really well written and while it may have gone through things at the American Library fairly quickly, it was a bit more about setting up the context for the echoes down the road that took place in Montana during Odile’s later years. I liked that what was going on during WWII in Odile’s younger years were reflected and echoed during Lily’s teenage years in Montana when Odile could advise Lily a bit. Lily was able to learn from Odile’s mistakes, and that’s something that we can take away from this book, that we can learn from the mistakes from others. Learn and learn and learn. Then learn some more. And make your own mistakes, which will suck, but then learn and help others to learn from your mistakes as well.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles comes out tomorrow on February 9th and has been named a “Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Library Journal and Goodreads. As a lover of historical fiction this novel based on a true World War II story of how librarians saved the work of the American Library in Paris as Nazis took over the city enticed me to request an advance reading copy from Net Galley.

The book opens in February 1939 in Paris with Odile running Dewey Decimal numbers around in her head as she prepares to interview for a job in the library. She will get the job and discover kindred spirits in her fellow librarians and a strong spirit in its American woman head librarian. The patrons who find refuge in the library come to life with humor and human interest, and Dewey Decimal references will reappear throughout the book. Librarians and patrons live under the risk of no knowing whom they can trust.

The second chapter opens with Lily, a teenager in Froid, Montana in 1983 describing her next door neighbor, Mrs. Gustafson who is often called a “War Bride” by the neighbors. Lily’s curiosity is peaked with wondering how an old person without a husband can be called a “bride” and with wonder that a person who speaks two languages fluently rarely talks to anyone.

Chapters fluctuate between the two times but not in every other one fashion. The system is more like getting the reader to the edge of the seat and then switching to the other time period. As Lily’s nosiness discovers Odile Gustafson’s secret story, she finds a kindred spirit as well.

The book is spellbinding with the only weakness in the sections in the obligatory romance seemingly inserted to give it an adult rating.

The Paris Library tells the story of Odile, a librarian at the American Library in Paris during the occupation of France in World War II. It is a story about family, betrayal, loss/grief and self-sacrifice. The story wonderfully unfolds through two time lines, World War II and 1990s in the US where Odile's young neighbor gives her an unexpected chance at redemption and explores the theme of found family. Great read!

I LOVED this book. As a huge fan of historical fiction (and WWII specifically) I found this story, which was based on a true story, incredible.

The Paris Library is told from the perspective of two neighbors in a small town in Montana, Lily and Odile. Odile tells the story of her life as an employee at the American Library in Paris during the Nazi Occupation - and the things that she and her coworkers did to fight back again the Nazi Regime, using books. Lily, a lonely young girl who befriends Odile in the 80’s. Lily is fascinated by her neighbor, her past and the lessons that she can learn from the old lady. Odile wants to teach Lily that her actions can have long lasting consequences - forcing her to think about the choices that she makes.

Janet Skeslian Charles writes about the strength (and fragility) of our relationships. The extraordinary powers of quietly fighting back - and the lasting implications of the choices that we make.

Learning about the not-so-well known story of the American Library Heroes makes this book well worth reading!

Thank you to Netgalley, Janet Skeslian Charles and Atria Books for my Advanced Reader Copy.

This has easily become one of my top books of 2021. The Paris Library is the story of the American Library in Paris and the librarians who kept the library open during the upheaval and dangerous climate of WWII. Based upon a true story, it is a breathtaking, sweeping tale of love, loss, war, family, and perseverance in the midst of tragedy. Written in dual POV between Odile, a brave, young librarian at the ALP during WWII and Lily, a teenager in 1980's Montana, who lives next to Odile (as an older adult) many years after she left Paris. Odile and Lily become close in the most wonderful of ways, proving that love and family can be found at anytime in any situation. I absolutely adored this novel, and I hope you will too! In a nutshell: this librarian is a HUGE fan. ⁠

We all have a book that’s changed us forever, one that lets us know that we’re not alone.

I love books about books and reading and The Paris Library certainly delivered. Based on history, the Paris Library donated hundreds of books to different regiments fighting in World War II. And when the Nazis invaded France, many of the library's staff risked their lives to deliver books to Jews who were unable to leave their homes. In The Paris Library, we meet one such worker, Odile Souchet, whose passion is the library, its books and its eclectic clientele.

Told in dual timelines we meet Odile in the 1940s as well as teenager Lily, a lonely teenager living in a small rural town in Montana in 1983. Lily's mother has passed and life seems to have moved on for everyone but Lily. Until she meets Odile who shares Lily's passion for reading and language.

This was such an endearing story of love and loss as well as hope, courage, and forgiveness. Odile was a great character and I definitely enjoyed her story more than Lily's. But the two timelines flowed easily back and forth and Lily's relationship with Odile helps gradually reveal Odile's role in the Resistance and how she came to Montana. The writing was warm and beautiful, and Odile is such and endearing character. You can't help but feel her pain and appreciate her hard-won wisdom.

There were a couple places and people that felt incomplete to me, but overall it's a great story. I highly recommend this for any historical fiction lovers. And it has the added bonus of book references and libraries that any bibliophile will enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for my ARC of this lovely novel.

In my quest to read WWII-era books with perspectives that I have not read before, I was happy to read The Paris Library.

In 1939 Paris, the future looks bright for Odile Souchet. She has just been hired by the American Library in Paris and is now part of an exciting world of book lovers including librarians, writers, diplomats and intellectuals. But as the Nazis invade Paris, the world around her drastically changes. Not only are people being persecuted but there is a threat to her beloved library and its thousands of treasured books.

The story takes us to 1983 in Montana, a world far from Paris. Odile is now a lonely widow. She develops a close bond with Lily, a young teenager, who is facing many challenges including a dying mother. Lily is very smart and is intrigued by this mysterious old woman who is clearly hiding many secrets. Odile sees a lot of herself in Lily. Their relationship is endearing.

As much as this is a wartime tale, the elements of friendship, love and betrayal provide the main appeal.

While the story of Odile is fiction, many of the colorful characters from the American Library were real and exhibited great heroism in the face of the enemy showing their love for books. They managed to keep the Library open during the war and fearlessly brought books to Jewish members after the Nazis banned them from using the library.

The Paris Library was a little slow starting but the pace picked up providing an interesting, enjoyable and worthwhile read.

Many thanks to Atria Books, NetGalley and the author for an advance copy. A review will be posted on my blog closer to publication.

I’m a huge fan of WWII historical fiction and I’ve read a lot of it over the years. For that reason, I’m always on the lookout for books that bring a fresh perspective or a story that I haven’t heard yet, and that it exactly what Janet Skeslien Charles does with her new novel, The Paris Library. Based on a true story, The Paris Library shines a light on a part of the French Resistance movement that I was not familiar with, that of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris (ALP). While the Nazis occupied and terrorized their city, the men and women of the ALP risked everything to keep the library open at all costs, even sneaking books across Paris to their beloved Jewish patrons who were barred from entering the building. For these librarians and their book loving patrons, books were both an escape and a symbol of hope and so the librarians wanted to do their part to keep hope alive no matter how dark life seemed.

One of the things I enjoyed most about The Paris Library was how the story unfolded. We are presented with a dual timeline, one in the 1980s that follows Lily, an awkward and lonely high school student living in a small town in Montana. Lily becomes intrigued by her neighbor, an elderly woman named Odile who keeps to herself and has an air of mystery about her. All anyone really knows about her is that she’s originally from France. Lily decides she wants to get to know Odile better and so, under the guise that she’s doing a school project on Paris, she approaches Odile and requests to interview her. A lovely friendship develops over time between Lily and Odile, and it is through this interview that we are introduced to Odile and the second timeline, which reveals that as a young woman, Odile worked as a librarian at the ALP and was a very active member of the Resistance.

While I loved watching the relationship blossom between Lily and Odile because Odile becomes almost like a second mom to Lily, I was of course most drawn to the incredible story that takes place during WWII. The author had me fully invested in the lives of Odile and her fellow librarians. I loved how committed they were to their cause, as well as how devoted they were to each other and to their patrons. I never would have guessed that there was an actual Resistance movement within the walls of a library and was glued to the pages each time the librarians faced danger or the risk of betrayal since one never knew who might be a Nazi collaborator. Even though the WWII timeline was the most engaging of the two, the author still manages to make the 1980s timeline compelling in the sense that there is some mystery surrounding Odile and why she keeps to herself and why she has never returned to Paris, not even once, after all these years. I loved the scrappy and determined Odile of WWII so much that I really wanted to know what had happened to send her to live in isolation in Montana of all places.

The Paris Library is a beautiful story of friendship, family, resistance, and resilience. If you’re looking for a WWII historical fiction that brings something new to the table, I highly recommend The Paris Library.

Real people, real places, and real events make this story so informative and interesting. Written in two time periods (1940s WWII Paris and 1980s Montana) about the same woman, the novel explores friendship, lies, and secrets and the aftermath of jealousy. Interesting inclusions in the story were the Dewey decimal numbers of random subjects and actual letters to the Germans from French citizens about supposed infractions of their friends, family and neighbors.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Publishing for the ARC to read and review.

While the book world is flooded with WWII historical fiction, I really enjoyed the different perspective that this story had to offer. As a reader and library lover, I found it fascinating to see how libraries were affected by war. I also loved the different characters that called the American Library in Paris their home and became like family. Reading and a love of books really does bring people together and it was beautiful to see how much these people did to protect the library and it's books and patrons. I also really enjoyed Odile's character arc, because while I didn't particularly love the younger version of her (she came off as very naive and could be quite self-centered), I adored her character later in life as Lily's neighbor (dual timeline). I also loved Lily and Odile's relationship and how much they were able to learn from each other. Overall a very insightful and enjoyable read and I recommend it to all who enjoy historical fiction.

For the love of books and the love of historical fiction. The Paris Library is a story of the American Library in Paris and the heroic librarians who kept it open during WWII and who accommodated the delivery of books to the front line soldiers. And more than that, it’s a dual timeline story of jealousy and revenge and the sadness that the fallout bears.

Odile Souchet finds herself as a librarian at the ALP at the dawn of WWII. I loved Odile’s characterization of her library colleagues. I was swept up in the memorizing descriptions of the library and the feeling it imbued. The connection of readers, through the checkout cards bearing theirs and others names, shows that war can divide but literature can bring together. Through the characters stories we can see what effects a stressful environment such as war can have on people and their thoughts and actions.

And for the die hard bibliophiles, there are snippets of Their Eyes Were Watching God woven throughout, to which I immediately added this classic to my TBR.

If you’re a fan of stories of books & humanity and historical fiction, The Paris Library is absolutely perfect for your TBR!

What could be better for book lovers than a historical novel based on a library, one described in such a vivid way that you can imagine that you are there?

Paris (1939 - 1944) Odile Souchet has landed her dream job, working at the American Library in Paris. She loves books - touching them, reading them, talking about them, sharing them with others. She enjoys working with the customers, most of whom are there often, and the library staff, who become like a second family to her. She has a boyfriend that she loves and who loves her in return. Things would be wonderful if it weren't for the war and the fact that her beloved twin brother, Remy, is in it.

Through Odile's eyes, we see the ever-increasing presence of Nazi soldiers, and the repercussions this has on everyday life in Paris. Not only are supplies rationed, but new restrictions are imposed, and checkpoints to enforce them pop up everywhere. Odile finds herself joining the resistance and working with her fellow librarians against the orders of the Nazi's "Library Protector", the Bibliotheksschutz, who drops in to check on libraries to ensure that they only offered approved materials to appropriate (i.e. non-Jewish) customers. The directoress of the library, Miss Reed, wants to ensure that everyone still has access to books, so she and her staff begin to secretly take books to their Jewish customers who are no longer permitted to enter the library, send books to soldiers, hide banned books and safeguard others so that the Nazis don't destroy them. It was a risky undertaking.

Montana (1983 - 1989) - Lily is a lonely young teenager in a small town in Montana. She is intrigued by her reclusive next door neighbor Mrs. Gustafson (Odile) and uses a homework assignment as an opportunity to interview her. The two find that they are similar in many ways, and form a friendship and bond that soothes and strengthens them both. There are hard lessons that Lily must learn along the way in this coming of age storyline.

Ms. Charles alternates between the time periods and storylines with ease and her descriptive writing skills bring her complex characters and scenes to life, giving readers the feeling that they too know these people and places. I love that the library itself becomes a character.

A favorite phrase from the book "... why I read - to glimpse other lives."

A wonderful read with characters based on real people who felt that access to reading was so important that they risked their own safety to ensure it. There are quiet heroes among us now as well. Please look for them!

My sincere thanks and appreciation to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read a copy of this book, scheduled to be published 2/9/21. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A book about books and libraries, about the connections made between readers, and the importance of ethics, honesty and humility. This beautiful novel focused on the historic American Library of Paris during WWII, and the Nazi occupation of Paris. Odile, the other librarians and staff of the Library, and their patrons are placed in difficult situations, as restrictions and anti-semitism wreak havoc on their daily lives. An alternating timeline, focused on the late 1980s, sees young Lily engaging with the lonely French widow next door, trying to discover her secrets, as she deals with her own teenage difficulties.

The alternating timelines were done well in this story, and I appreciated the interaction between Odile and Lily, as they traverse many difficult issues. I found Lily’s story a bit repetitive, and felt it could have been shortened slightly. The author’s meticulous research is evident in every passage, and I loved her author’s note, detailing the real-life characters that she included throughout. A well-written, intriguing and engaging historical fiction. Recommend for lovers of literature and its power to unite people.