Life lessons abound in this WWII story about a young woman's time at the American Library of Paris during the occupation of Paris. War does not bring out the best in people and a moment of venting frustrations can twist fate. Alternating between 1980's US and 1940's Paris, told from many perspectives, each one offering a glimpse into the soul and the good, bad, ugly, joy, sorrow . . . ugh, yeah, EMOTIONS!
Book lovers will love the titles that float through the book and make their own collection of stories that shaped their life.

What a fantastic novel!

The Paris Library captivated me and grabbed my heart with moving tale of two women’s journey through tough times. This novel jumps from Odile in Paris in the 1940’s to Lily in Montana in the 1980’s—as the novel unfolds, we see how these women impact each other.

I love when a novel is so well written you forget the real world. While I was reading The Paris Library I literally could not get these characters out of my thoughts. The storyline is original and will definitely be a novel that stays with you! The Paris Library is a 5 star book that I highly recommend! I cannot wait to read more from Janet Skeslien Charles in the future!

The Paris Library is a 5-star read that will make a bibliophile out of anyone. Based on the courageous librarians and volunteers at the American Library in Paris during WWII, author Janet Skeslien Charles tells a fascinating story of how literature can create community, become an instrument of humanity and resistance, and bring hope and solace to those in need.

Fresh out of librarian school in 1939, with thoughts of the Dewey Decimal system swirling in her head, Odile Souchet lands her dream job at the American Library in Paris. At the library, she develops strong bonds with other librarians and patrons and embarks on a romance with a handsome police officer who works for her father. Her library family is both an inspiration and support system for her as her beloved brother enlists, and her family dynamics shift. When the Nazis invade and deem literature one of the many enemies of the state, the library community stages its resistance. When the war ends, Odile and other characters must deal with the consequences of some of the choices they made.

The Paris Library is my favorite kind of historical fiction, based on the real-life untold stories. I was delighted the author included background information on heroisms of the characters, as well as how their real-life stories evolved. A must-read for historical fiction buffs.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of The Paris Library in exchange for an honest review.

Those of us who are avid readers of historical fiction may think they have read everything there is to read in WW2 novels, but Janet Skeslien Charles has found an undiscovered niche and cracked it open. THE PARIS LIBRARY is a heart-warming and heart-breaking love affair with many dimensions:
. . . . a passion for books and their importance in our lives;
. . . . a romance with the institution of a Library and its ability to offer us a safe haven;
. . . . a story of romantic love;
. . . . and,, the realization of what a friend's love means in your life.

This is a coming of age story during turbulent times, but it is also a moving tribute to the meaning of friendship .

NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

During the late 1930's, the English library in Paris is a haven not only for books, but for all sorts of lonely souls. Odile is so thankful to be hired to work there as a librarian as her coworkers and many of the patrons become like her family. But when the Nazi's occupy Paris and there comes fear, uncertainty, deception, and betrayal. It's only years later when a neighbor child befriends her that Odile is able to come to terms with her past.

A nice piece of historical fiction highlighting the work librarians did including bringing books to Jewish people and foreigners, as well as getting reading materials to soldiers. Also highlights the personal dilemmas and situations that Parisian's faced during this time. Well done.

Well written and researched historical fiction is the best kind! Here the author, Janet Skeslien Charles, learned the basis of this novel while working at The American LIbrary in Paris herself. In parallel time lines - Paris in the 1940s and Montana in the 1980s - the life of Odile comes in to focus as she rememebers her past and develops a new young friend, Lily, in the 1982 present. Well developed plot and characters, the reader definitely invests in the storyline and puzzles about how the Odile in Paris became the War Bride in small town Montana. For fans of the The Paris Wife, The Air You Breathe and similar works of historical fiction.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles is a fabulous and stunning dual-timeline historical fiction novel that travels between a cast of characters whose lives are intertwined with the American Library in Paris during the years 1939-1944 and small town Froid, Montana 1983-1989. Bringing these two places and times together as one is Odile Souchet.

When we first meet Odile, we find her in her early 20s just starting out in her first position of the library of her dreams, The American Library in Paris. Here we get to meet the most wonderful cast of characters whose personalities, intellect, and complexities literally jump out of the page for me. We read about the struggles that she faces at home with her family, with her profession, her colleagues, as well as the German Occupation of Paris.

We then get to meet Odile again in Froid, Montana many years later through her next door neighbor, young Lily. We also get to see Lily’s own concerns, struggles, and aspirations and find that while these are two totally different females, their hopes and dreams are quite similar.

I loved the alternating points of view, as well as the few chapters added throughout that add points of view with: Margaret, Miss Reeder, Boris, and Paul. The way the author was able to weave together this passionate and unique subject with such amazing detail and splendid cast of characters truly made this book my favorite so far this year (and will be a top favorite for this whole upcoming year to be sure). This was so ingenious!

There were several things that I truly loved about this book:

1. The storyline concerning the real-life AL in Paris and the difficulties its patrons, staff, and their friends and families had to experience with the Occupation during WWII made this well-written topic (the Occupation of France specifically) with the wonderful, heartfelt characters made this book unique, fresh, and excellent in every way.

2. I loved the two main characters: Lily and Odile. Often when reading a book with multiple stories, I find myself rushing through a specific character or their story to get to another that I find more interesting, however in this case, I loved both stories equally. That is a rarity indeed! I loved how both women were like-able, realistic, flawed, brave, independent, strong and intelligent, both had a solid moral-compass that was never lost despite their mistakes and errors. Both women valued their friends and family, and even with errors, always found their “north star” back home.

3. I loved the locations and the author’s ability with her dialogue, descriptions, and prose to make me feel as if I was actually under the Montana skies and also walking through the long halls filled with the sights and smells of history and older, trusted books. I loved it!

4. I loved the cast of secondary characters. Often times I find the collection of surrounding characters lacking, or despicable. Here, I actually loved every one of them. Not one was truly “bad” or completely “perfect”. Everyone had faults and made mistakes, but all had definite redeeming qualities and I actually cared what happened to every one of them. A rarity for me!

5. I loved the growth and change of the characters as the years went on. No one was static and everyone changed and evolved due to their experiences and surroundings.

6. I loved the concept of the Dewey Decimal System that Odile used to associate feelings, emotions, character traits, situations, and people. It is so unique and I absolutely loved it!

7. I truly enjoyed the author’s note at the end that discussed what was true, what was an inspiration, and what was changed/added for the purpose of the story. I learned so much while reading this book about the international library systems. It is always a plus to be able to find out something new while reading historical fiction.

8. Finally, I loved the ending: for Lily, Odile, as well as their ending together. No other ending could have been more appropriate and perfect.

This was truly a unique and amazing book. I will be reading this book over and over again. I know I will pick up even more on my subsequent visits.

An excellent and memorable book. Truly a gem.

5/5 stars enthusiastically

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster/ Atria Books for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

This is just an awe-inspiring book!

I am a former librarian and of course any story that is about libraries and books is interesting to me, but throw into the pot history and Paris, well I was hooked. I hate to admit that I was not aware of an American Library in Paris or the story it played during the Second World War. After reading this book I am proud to be a librarian and know how important books and libraries are to this world, no matter the times we live in now, we lived in the past, or we look forward to in the future. Libraries are a haven for all and a sanctuary in times of despair. They give us strength to carry on and fill us with joy and optimism. All that and more will you find in the pages of this book and I highly recommend it for your to read list.

This book is scheduled to be published in June, 2020.

This is a wonderful book that I could not put down. I never knew about the American Library of Paris and was swept away by the courage of these librarians during the Nazi Occupation. It is also story about friendships and the power of books as well as the consequences of choices made under duress.

I am so in love with this book. It has everything I love in a good story. Mystery, romance, history, and just so much more.

Odile is a young librarian who works in the American Library in Paris. She eats, sleeps, and drinks books and everything about them. She works with wonderful people and enter a young policeman with romance on his mind and it's perfect. However World War II begins and life changes for everyone.

Fast forward to Montana 1983 and we find Odile in a small town and alone. How did she end up in Montana? What is her story? I implore you to read this wonderful book and find out yourself!

As a librar(y Technic)ian and book lover, I was excited to read this book. My love of books, libraries and WWII historical fiction all rolled into one!

I finished this book yesterday and am still thinking about how to review it. I liked the book, I did. But at times I was confused with all the Paris library staff and subscribers who came and went. I had trouble remembering who was whom. I also wasn't a huge fan of young Odile. I know, right? There was just something about her weak character that didn't work for me. I understand that the book is not necessarily about the war and your typical occupied Paris story, but at times I wanted more. Perhaps that's on me. As well, the scenes depicting the onset of Lily's mom's illness and subsequent death aren't really necessary. The story with her, her father and Eleanor could have been written right from the start - them starting off as a new blended family - and still been as affecting. As was Remy's war experience. But what really didn't work for me, was how Odile could agree to and marry Buck as she did. I understand her need to escape but to have it happen the way it did didn't sit well with me.

That being said, it was overall a great book and I am thankful for having read it.

The Paris Library
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book had good potential about the American Library in Paris during the Second World War. It has two timelines, most of it is in Paris from 1939 to 1944, where Odile a young librarian works with her colleagues to keep the library open even during the German occupation. The second timeline is in 1980’s Montana where Odile now lives. She lives a lonely life as a widow, until a young girl, Lily from next door befriends her. I found the two timelines choppy, the 1940’s somewhat better than the 1980’s. Transitions were sudden, such as Lily starting her senior year in high school in a sentence, she is graduating the very next sentence. I couldn’t really identify with any of the main protagonists.
If you like family relations, romance, collaborations, betrayals you will like this book. I found it at times boring, no more than three stars for me.
Thanks NetGalley, Atria Books and the author, Janet Skeslien Charles for the advanced copy.

The author tells her overlapping story of two people who love the warmth of a library book. Not a favourite. Very unsophisticated writing.

The Paris Library caught me by surprise. After a picturesque but slow start, the book gathered momentum. So much so, that I stayed up until 3AM finishing it! This read is a pleasure for us historical fiction addicts – incorporating love stories, a full description of the lead up to German occupation of Paris and its effect on The American Library, including a tutorial in the workings of the Dewy Decimal System. Did I mention there are Nazis as well? The story time shifts from war torn Paris to a remote 1980s Montana town, where our heroines come together to teach each other life-lessons.

Janet Skeslien Charles has done her homework and presented the reader with verisimilitude for both locations and developed her characters so they withstand the test of time. The challenges of the choices made during times of need do not change over time. Some of the issues explored in The Paris Library are not that dissimilar from some we are facing today.

Being a book person and a big fan of libraries and librarians, the day-to-day details of the importance printed material played in surviving WWII was fascinating. We forget that dissemination of information is a luxury that’s one of the immediate casualties with the arrival of fascism.

I was grateful to Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC and certainly The Paris Library. This is a 5 star read!

Thank you to the publisher of The Paris Library for sending me an advance copy of this book. She said that I like
historical fiction but she didn't know that I volunteer at the American Library which is the centrepiece of this story.
The author, Janet Skeslien Charles, worked as the Program Manager of the Library in 2010 and was inspired by
all the history that is displayed (and is still displayed) on the walls. She was particularly moved by learning about the brave men and women who fought to keep the Library open during WWII.

Charles passionately talks about her love of books in the voice of one of the main characters, Odile, a young french woman who has gone to school to be a librarian and has perfected her knowledge of the Dewey Decimal system. She learns of an opening at the Library and must convince the Directress that even though she is french, she is the right person for the job. Odile's story as a young women is interrupted every couple of chapters by the story of Lily, a high school girl living in Froid, Montana. forty-five years later. As expected the two stories merge
as well as unearthing some of the more bitter, unscrupulous parts of War.

The story begins in late 1939, early 1940 when the Germans first arrive and occupy Paris. French are urged to get out of Paris and ex-Pats are advised to go home. No one at the Library budges. Their strong belief in providing books for soldiers, hospitals and sending books to all parts of the country, unites the staff as well as many of the clientele. We are entertained by a variety of people that make the library their home. The Library is no longer
at the site it was in the 1940s, but I could still envision the conversations going on in the reading rooms.

The Paris Library is a fun read, easy reading and, if you live in Paris as I do, a tour of Paris in the 1940s of many of the streets I love. I always learn something new when a book is published about a little known hero or heroine of the war. I can only hope to have as much integrity if ever I'm faced with a situation anywhere near an occupation by the enemy. The forward of the book says it is based on real events. Yet in the book, the publisher says that everything is fiction. I hope this gets sorted before the book is launched. I feel certain that it is based on real events and is yet another example of integrity and courage during horrible times.

Absolutely loved this book! Charles does a great job introducing the reader to her characters and making you feel invested in the story. There are many things (those of us who did not live through World War II) take for granted. Knowing that despite all the danger of doing anything to rebel against the evils that were taking place, people were still taking risks to rebel in small ways so they could feel they made a difference. I love that this story tells us what an escape books provide people at all times... a way of "seeing through another's eyes." The Paris Library allows the reader to see many points of view through the different visitors and staff of the library before, during and after World War II. It's a story of courage, of people rallying together to survive, and to help others continue to have access to books despite the limitations forced on them. I have an even greater appreciation of all libraries after this story.

This book was a well written novel set in Paris just before and during the occupation of world War 2. Although it didn't dwell on the extent of the horrors and tragedies people suffered then, there was enough to make the reader realize the terrible conditions - starvation, humiliation, death, torture - that ordinary citizens endured.
The Paris Library existed and thanks to this books, the general public will understand the bravery of the people who worked there and although it may seem inconsequential to those who do not "Read to live and live to read", it is amazing to see how these people risked their lives literally to make sure people had books. When the library became out-of-bounds for Jews and others designated by the Nazis, the library's devoted employees made sure they had reading material delivered to them.
This is also the story of a survivor, and how Odile got her job at the library and eventually ens up sharing her life story in Montana. Spanning years and cultures, using what she learned in life to help her young neighbor avoid making the same mistakes, Odile is the window through which the story unfolds.
Paris under siege is also a character, while the British and Americans who remained there out of a sense of duty, but finally have to leave or be arrested, all have the reader's interest.
Odile is a librarian through and through. She relates incidents in her life to what she has read, and then to the Dewey Decimal System, to where the book is found in the library. This is a great book for lovers of reading as well as those who appreciated the 'old days' of library research using the card boxes and Dewey;s system to lead us to treasures.
I was doubly excited to read in the acknowledgements, mention of the librarian of the Chemists' Club in NY, where my late husband, a chemical engineer (and owner of Bakelite in Canada) spent many happy hours researching in their library - a unique location.
Although we can benefit from the digital age, we cannot help but miss the personal touch of a book, and the personal touch an oasis of reading like the Paris Library must have afforded its patrons.
This book is staying with me and I highly recommend it.

There have been SO many books recently that focus on civilian life in France & Italy during World War II. In this novel Charles explores life in Nazi-occupied Paris and the employees and subscribers of the American Library in Paris. In the face of ever-threatening conditions, they keep the library open and try to continue services to English-speaking patrons. The story is based on true events, and many of the characters were actual employees or patrons of the library.

The story is built around Lily, a precocious 12 year old, and Odile, an older woman (the war-bride), and the friendship they strike up when Lily's curiosity gets the better of her and she decides to find out more about the mysterious woman living next door. Over the course of several years, they become friends and Lily learns the story of Odile's years as a librarian in Paris.

I loved every page of this book. While the writing is not likely to win literary awards, the story is fast-paced, the characters well crafted and realistic, and the drama is suspenseful, engaging, and never overly melodramatic. There are some surprises and the ending is just perfect. For book lovers & librarians, the story is sprinkled with quotes from classic novels and poetry, and there are lots of references to the Dewey Decimal System -- every one adds to the story, never distracting or seeming out of place. This is a dream book for historical fiction fans and fans of books & libraries.

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book based on the real American library in Paris. The novel takes place in Paris during the German occupation and in the 1980's in a small Montana town. Nineteen-year-old Odile Souchet takes a job in the American Library in Paris at the start of World War Two. She experiences love, loss, courage, and betrayal—all life lessons she is able to pass on to her young neighbor many years later. A page-turner of a novel with memorable characters,

I’ve read a lot of books set during WWII as it’s my favorite genre. I was attracted to this book because the story centers on the librarians and their patrons at the American Library in Paris. This was certainly a new take on WWII but based on actually people. The librarians were courageous and devoted to their patrons and books during the occupation of Paris. The story is mostly told from Odile’s point of view and has a connection her young neighbor Lily in 1983 Montana. She mentors Lily and teaches her French and a strong bond forms between them. We don’t find out until near the end of the novel how Odile ends up in the United States and I was surprised at the developments. It was an enjoyable read and I highly recommend it. Thank you Atria and Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.