The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles tells the little-known narrative of the heroic librarians in Nazi-occupied Paris. It’s thought-provoking and heart-wrenching, filled with love, friendship, betrayal, jealousy, and loneliness.
We follow two storylines in Charles’ novel. The first is set in France, starting in 1939. We meet ambitious Odile as she begins her dream position at the American Library in Paris. Odile falls in love with the library and the colorful characters who work there, as well with a handsome policeman. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile finds herself a part of the resistance through the library and her books.
Our second storyline takes place some forty years later in Froid, Montana. Lily is an awkward and lonely teenager who finds herself facing a painful tragedy. In all her loneliness and confusion, she connects with an elderly, secretive neighbor who helps her cope.
I’ve mentioned before my general aversion to alternating timeline books. But, I have to give Charles credit: I really liked both of the plots in this book. I was eager to continue each, to see how they played out. Charles also made some unique creative choices in her story that I really enjoyed: Seeing as Odile is a librarian, Charles incorporates book quotations and weaves “bookish” things like the Dewey Decimal System into the novel. For example, Odile often thinks in terms of the Dewey Decimal System as opposed to actual book titles or topics. I just thought that was a neat but realistic choice, solidifying her character as a librarian. I think we all tend to think in the ways in which we have studied or worked before. I haven’t worked in personal injury law in almost a year, and I still think or type in terms of the abbreviations we used.
Charles portrays Nazi-occupied France realistically but not graphically. She is careful not to gloss over what happened, but she doesn’t dwell on the atrocities. That can be refreshing in WWII books, considering how heavy they can often be. She spent most of her time on the human-side of things, building up relationships, exploring how they changed because of the war, and telling the story of the library’s resistance.
Lily’s story was more coming-of-age than survival, but it was fascinating how Charles linked her story with Odile’s, how they experienced the same range of emotions from losing loved ones to jealousy of friends and more. Sometimes, I have a hard time with how two alternating plots/storylines/timelines come together, but this one was very clear and made complete sense. It did not feel forced, unbelievable, or unrelatable.
For all the positives of this novel, I have two small critiques. First, I felt the book was slow to start. I didn’t really feel all too invested for the first 40%, but I was hooked for the remainder. Secondly, the book alternated between Lily’s and Odile’s perspectives except for this random moment 70% through where we shift to a completely different supporting character in order to show something specific (but not all that imperative to the story) occur. Maybe I’m picky, but I thought that was kind of a lazy choice. It was inconsistent to the rest of the book and served only to advance the plot in a very minor way.
I would encourage you to grab this book and immerse yourself in the story. I have said it before, but I love reading new things on WWII. The Paris Library was different and unique in many ways but still filled with all the tales of heroism, love, family, and survival that we know and cherish from war-time writing. Oh, and there’s a pretty big twist in Odile’s life that I was delighted about, not because it was happy in any way but because it was so unexpected. I love getting caught off guard in a story! I give this novel a solid four stars.
Copyright Janet Skeslien Charles and Atria Books. Image from Amazon.com.
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