I had a hard time gaining momentum reading this book until about the halfway mark - then it grabbed my interest and finished strong!

The Paris Library is a book of historical fiction that combines true events with some fictionalized characters. It is set in 1980’s Montana in a small town where an adolescent girl, Lily, and her old French neighbor, Odile, become unlikely friends. The chapters alternate between the two characters revealing Odile’s life in WWII France. This is a story of friendship and redemption that is heartwarming while giving us a history lesson at the same time. A wonderful story for those that love historical fiction.

The Paris Library pays homage to the brave men and women who worked in the American Library in Paris during World War II, covertly providing services to many who were no longer permitted in the library, namely Jews, and others targeted by the Germans occupying France. While this aspect of the story is compelling enough, the author has added a second timeline where Odile, a librarian during the war, is living in Montana in the year 1983, and imparts her wisdom, much learned during her experience during the war, on a young woman experiencing her own difficulties. Although some connections between the timelines are not immediately revealed, the reader can easily follow along, eagerly waiting to return to the alternate timeline for more information. The use of Dewey Decimal numbers throughout is a nice treat, appealing especially to bibliophiles and librarians. A beautiful story about friendship and intergenerational relationships, the importance of literature and libraries, and survival during a horrific and challenging time in history. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this e-galley.

Thank you to NetGalley for this delightful read in exchange for an honest review. This was a wonderful escape from my everyday life! I enjoyed reading about Odile in Paris and the American Library in Paris set during WW2, and Lilly in Montana in 1983. I don't want to spoil the story, but I enjoyed how this was a different kind of historical fiction set during the war and liked how the library looked out for their Jewish subscribers and got them reading material when they could no longer visit the library.

Pick this book up if you too enjoy historical fiction!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

The cover art of this novel first captivated by attention...however, this beautifully well written story held my attention page by page, chapter by chapter. Five Stars!

This librarian loved the Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. I appreciate the opportunity to read the book and write an honest review for NetGalley. I had never heard of the American Library in Paris. Reading the book and learning about the true events that are included in the story, I was inspired to research the library. Odile's story was amazing as was the story of the real Miss Reeder.

The Paris Library tells the story of Odile during the Paris occupation by Nazis and also decades later when she befriends her young neighbor Lily. Janet Skestien Charles draws you into her novel immediately and then pulls you along throughout the story. I had not read much about the Paris occupation and nothing about the American Library in Paris. As a librarian, I can't imagine the anguish of limiting access to books to only certain people or losing irreplaceable books to an opposing force. It was hard to put down and I look forward to reading more of her work. This really was an excellent book and I thank Netgalley for my review e-copy.

I hate having to leave a review and to rate a book when I haven’t finished it. Therefore my two stars is possibly wrong and surely doesn’t reflect the book as a whole for I haven’t (couldn’t) finished it. Six chapters in and I still don’t know what the book is about. I love historical fiction, but there it feels like nothing is happening, the introduction too long, I don’t feel like I’m in Paris, and the characters not compelling enough to my liking.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Beautiful tale of heroism in the face of disaster. I loved the characters in this book! The story was so well told. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

I have read some WWII fiction and was hoping this would be different, especially when I saw library in the title. Thankfully, this was different than many other books in this era so that was a pleasant surprise.

I also an not sure if i have read a main character lately that I loved as much as Odile - everything about her was great and I found myself hoping to find someone like her to have a friendship with someday.

Well written and great characters.

“No other thing possesses that mystical faculty to make people see with other people’s eyes. The Library is a bridge of books between cultures”
Dorothy Reeder, Director of The American Library in Paris

If you love libraries, Paris, and World War II historical novels as I do, be prepared to be swept away by this beautifully written novel. Who knew that The American Library in Paris held such rich personal stories among the books themselves? Two well-researched and insightful plot lines intersect, providing timeless and important lessons about resilience, loyalty, forgiveness and passion. I am already missing Ms. Charles’ multifaceted characters and will be diving into more research about these brave librarians who risked their lives in the name of literacy.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I am a sucker for books about books, especially when you throw in historical fiction! I loved so many things about this beautiful, engaging book..the glimpse into being a librarian, life in Paris, young love even in tumultuous times, Odile -her story and growth, and how much life changed when the Nazis stepped in.
My only complaint is that I wanted more depth, not just from Odile and her story but from the seriousness of The Nazi take over of France. The story felt like grazing the surface but I wanted more.

A haunting tale (or tales--the construct is of parallel stories) of quiet and persistent heroism, THE PARIS LIBRARY paints the portraits of everyday people faced with extraordinary challenges. And who can resist a book about libraries and books?

It is a story about an american library in Paris during WW2 and one of its employees' life during the mid 80's. It was good but it wasn't super enthralling. I feel that it wasn't going anywhere and never finished. It wasn't bad but something is not right.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

Parallel stories of Odile in Nazi Occupied Paris and Lily in 1983 Montana convey the power of friendship, the dangers of betrayal, and a love of literature. Odile was a lover of all things to do with libraries: the Dewey Decimal System, connecting patrons with literature, and the collegiality of fellow book-lovers. When the occupation of Paris turned the city and her life topsy-turvy, Odile persevered in her work at the library in spite of the danger and stress of worry about her friends and family. In Montana Lily is bereft after her mother's death, and her friendship with her reclusive elderly neighbor--Odile of course--becomes a source of great comfort and curiosity to her. Questions of loyalty and betrayal, which were life-threatening during wartime Paris, retain their power for a lifetime and compel feelings and actions decades later. This novel, based on the actual American Library and its brave staff who kept literature available during the Nazi Occupation of Paris, is made all the more real because of its relevance to a teenage girl in Montana in 1983.

Beautiful, moving, and a wonderful reminder that heroism and bravery come in many forms.

I greatly enjoy the heroics of more standard war fiction. Derring-do involving spies, soldiers, and the like is almost always a winner in my book, but I’m especially fascinated by a lot of the more niche heroism that shows up in World War II, often in occupied France.

The Resistance most commonly calls to mind an image of everyday citizens engaging in acts of war against the Nazis, but as this book so excellently demonstrates, fighting back against an oppressor can take many forms.

In this case our resisters are the courageous employees of the American Library in Paris, where the staff, volunteers, and subscribers risk arrest and internment because they believe in the power of books in the darkest of times.

Our brave and wonderfully imperfect heroine Odile captivates in both of the book’s timelines: As a young woman contributing to the Resistance in Paris and as an older woman mentoring a young woman who has just lost her mother.

The book broke my heart over and over, but in a way that felt deeply rewarding. And the tone as well as the conclusion of the story is ultimately one of hope and goodness.

The fact that much of the book’s content regarding the way the library functioned in the Resistance is rooted in truth made the story all the more enjoyable to read. Janet Skeslien Charles can now count me as a tremendous fan of her work.

Thank you NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest opinion. Interesting story about the American Library in Paris during WWII, with a second timeline set in Montana in the 1980’s. The second timeline dragged on, seemed to take a while to get to the point.
I didn’t find out till the end that many of the people in the Paris story were based on real people who worked and visited the library, which made that timeline much more interesting.

bookshelves: bibliophilia, historical-novel, historical-research, Paris, Montana, family-dynamics, friendship, small-town, library, librarian

I felt as if I was there in the library in Paris with books and friends as war came not so slowly into lives. There were ways to serve others, patrons and soldiers and those fearfully waiting for whatever came next while hoping and praying that the journalists were wrong. And when the nazis came and books were more important than ever.
I had less luck with Odile's later life in a small town in Montana in the 1980s sharing with a young girl who buried her mother and hated that her father was able to move on.
I was riveted to this amazing account that was real human history dressed up as fiction to disguise the wrenching effects of man's thoughtlessness.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Atria Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
americanlibraryinparis.org

I loved this book that told the story of a librarian during World War II. Being a librarian myself, I was fascinated with her story. I will order this book because I have several patrons that will enjoy this wonderful story.