The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles is about Odile who worked in the American Library in Paris during
World War II and Lily who grew up in Montana in the 1980s. After the war, Odile
married Buck Gustafson and moved to Montana where she eventually met Lily. The
book is an intertwined pair of coming-of-age stories. Odile growing up in occupied
Paris and Lily in small-town Montana. In parallel plot lines, Odile leaves for
Montana and Lily leaves for Paris.
Another of many recent novels with a balanced treatment of the Allies and the Germans.
This is an extensively researched novel based on the people who kept the American Library in Paris open during the German occupation and the people who used the library during those years. Maybe as a by-product of the research process, most of the characters survived the war.
The importance of books.
“But seriously, why books. Because 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.”
Volunteering at
the library.
“You should
volunteer here.”
“I haven’t any
training. What if I make a mistake?”
“It’s a library, not a surgery! No one will die if you put a book
in the wrong place.”
The power of
books
“How can you
stay?”
Gently, she
cupped my cheek. “Because I believe in the power of books—we do important work,
by making sure knowledge is available, and by creating community. And because I
have faith.”
“In God?”
“In young women like you and Bitsi and Margaret—I know you’ll set
the world right.”
Delivering books
to Jews who are forbidden from the library.
“Delivering books
will be our way of resisting,” Bitsi said.
“We need to do
this,” I said.
“It’s the right
thing to do,” Boris said.
“Then let’s get to work,” Miss Reeder said.
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