I love books with libraries and librarians and most things bookish but I think the best stories are those that have unforgettable characters and people we start to associate as family. This is why the first review of this year is one very close to my heart: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles is one such book for me and if you have ever read a book, found it super satisfying and wanted to savour it for some hours longer, you have experienced how I felt with this book. Take a look at the synopsis below and then I will share my adventures. Just to give you a sneak peak, I made a list of all the literary works mentioned in this book so keep an eye out for that at the end of the post!
Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.
Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.
Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.
A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors—The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.
Content Notes: Extra marital affair, portrayal of war, suicide attempt, and atrocities due to war.
Thoughts on
The Paris Library
What kind of reader are you?
Are you like me where you don’t think twice about adding a book to your TBR or are you like Odile where you open a book to a random page and if you like what you read, you decide to read the book? The Paris Library has unforgettable characters and the love for reading is deeply ingrained in so many of them that every bookworm will automatically feel at home.
The story takes place in late 1930s Paris (before World War 2) but we also get glimpses of the life of the protagonist, Odile, in late 1980s when she is living in the United States. A young girl named Lily strikes up a friendship with Odile and brings purpose to Odile’s life. She is a widow whose only child also passed away and all she has left is her memories and her books. What happened to her as a young librarian in Paris and why did she move to the US? This is the one big question that the narrative answers in a most beautiful manner.
On Relationships
The Paris Library shows the descent of a society from a time of peace into a time of unrest with the Second World War. The community has to come together to support everyone and keep moving forward inspite of all the fear and terror. Every single individual might not be at the battle field but that does not mean that they are not fighting in their own right. When the German authorities declare certain books banned in France as well as make it illegal for Jews to use the library, the librarians of The American Library in Paris take a stand and continue to deliver books to their patrons. They face security checks and curfews but they make sure to check on the people that have to be isolated from the rest of the society because of discrimination.
The Paris Library has a number of intense relationships – the connection between Odile and her brother, Remy, Odile’s friendship with Margaret, a Britisher in Paris, her love for Paul, Odile’s relationship with her parents, especially her dad as the war reveals certain secrets that she finds hard to fathom. The pain of having a brother or child or spouse away at the warfront and awaiting news for them made for some brutal moments in the book. Developing new relationships like with a step-mom were also touched upon beautifully.
On Circumstances
War can show us a side of people we never imagined they had. Sometimes, it can even show us a new side of ourselves. As Kristin Hannah succintly protrays in The Nightingale (which I am currently reading with Charlie for Peaches book club):
If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.
The Nightingale, Chapter One
This journey of Odile to know herself through war and love is one of the most touching and raw parts of The Paris Library. The feelings of helplessness can make one vengeful and jealous of those who have more. What I loved about The Paris Library was that it had real characters – the people in the story faced tough situations, made hard choices, sometimes made stupid mistakes that they regretted, but they had to keep going and they did. There were consequences for their actions and Odile, in particular, resigned to her faith after a deep look at her values.
The Paris Library made me think about writing itself. How so many layers of a character are developed and revealed over time through the storytelling. What does one’s life look like from the outside? What is it really like on the inside? Odile and Lily’s friendship helped reveal both those aspects of Odile.
On the Love of Books
Where would we be without books? They transport us to worlds we have never been to, they take our worries away and let us focus for a bit on other people. They teach us empathy. They move us to tears of joy and sadness. The World Wars did not stop people from reading. When soldiers were not fighting or writing to their loved ones, they were reading. According to this article in the Atlantic, publishers gave away over 100,000,000 books during World War II alone. There were libraries like The American Library in Paris shipping books to its readers and soldiers in huge numbers. This article goes into the books that World War I soldiers read in the trenches. But it was not just soldiers who needed the books, everyone who read did.
No matter how bad it gets, know that there will always be books to remind us that the world does get better and we will make it through.
The Paris Library is a book that made me laugh and cry. It made my heart ache in the chapters that related directly to atrocities of war and I wanted to stop the characters from saying and doing things that were clearly so dangerous. I was invested in her journey and her present and am so glad that she found Lily and moulded her into an even more avid reader. Their connection was so sweet to read about and added another dimension to the story. There is so much more I can write about this book but I really want you to read it and will leave some mystery to that.
** The Paris Library will be available in stores starting February 2nd 2021. I highly highly recommend this book and though I received it as an ARC, this is one of the books I must add to my physical library. Below are the preorder links. **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. This book is another one of those Simon and Schuster eARCs that I just have to buy a physical copy of because it touched my heart for so many reasons. The first one like this was The Braid.
Books Recommended by the Librarians and Readers in The Paris Library
Be sure to bookmark this page if you feel like picking books from the list at any time! I’ll be slowing reading and rereading a couple of these and I’ll be referring back to here too. Which ones have you read and would recommend? (If I missed any, please let me know!)
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud
- A Room with A View by E. M. Forester
- Hard Times by Charles Dickens
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Studs Lonigan by James T. Farrell
- Belinda by Maria Edgeworth (many thanks to reader Ginny for the correction!)
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- The Priory by Dorothy Whipple
- Miss Pettigrew lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
- The death of the heart by Elizabeth Bowen
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- The lady with the little dog and other stories by Anton Chekhov
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- Emma by Jane Austen
- Voyage in the dark by Jean Rhys
- Good morning, midnight by Jean Rhys
- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
- Villette by Charlotte Brontë
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Candide by Voltaire
- The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- A Tree grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple
- Call of the Wild by Jack London
- The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
- As You Like It by William Shakespeare
- The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
- Névada by Zane Grey
Beowolf (unknown author) and Ivanhoe (by Walter Scott) were also mentioned by Lily as books she was reading in school.
Are you going to add any of these to your 2021 pile? Or are there any favorites from this list that I should check out?
If you enjoy Historical Fiction, be sure to check the Book Review Index for more recommendations! Thanks for reading – I hope this year brings lots of wonderful books like this one to you. 🙂
Cover image: Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
Wow, this must have taken so much time to add all those little extra details and compile the list of works. I’m glad you’ve found a book that you really enjoy – love your blackboard style mini-review too! Happy reading in 2021! ☺️
Thank you ❤️ Happy 2021! I had a good feeling about this book and marked them as I read 🙂
This sounds like a great read, definitely worth checking out. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Fantastic review, Kriti!
In Chapter 23, Odile pulls “The Dreamers” from Miss Reeder’s shelf. Who is the author of that book?
Hi. I am not sure. We will have to ask the author. 🙂
Hi! I reached out to the author and she said it’s a fictional book. 🙂 I find that detail so interesting. The liberties authors take and all the answers we want as readers.
If you read the Author’s Notes at the end of the novel, you will find that the book is historical fiction based on true events and people working at the American Library in Paris during WWII. She provides detailed information about the ‘real people’ and what happened to them after the war. It was most informative.
Hi Debbie. Yes that’s absolutely correct. The comment above is about the book called ‘The Dreamers’ that the author refers to in the book, not the book ‘The Paris Library’ itself, which like you said is based on true events and accounts of people.
The book GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT referred to in THE PARIS LIBRARY is by Jean Rhys. The other book with that title wasn’t t published until 2017.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
The correct reference for the book BELINDA is an 1801 novel by Anglo-English writer Maria Edgeworth. A book with the same title was published in 1986 by Anne Rice using the pseudonym Anne Rampling.
Thank you Ginny! I have updated the post.
Névada by Zane Grey – Odile reads to the soldier at hospital
It should be Jean Rhys for Good Morning Midnight
Thanks for making this list more accurate!