The Paris Library is based on a true story, the author worked as the programs manager at the American Library in Paris in 2019, many of the characters in the story were real people and the events actually occurred.

It is a well written and well researched story about the American Library in Paris during the second world war. It is a story of family, love, kindness, survival and the love of books.

This book will appeal to lovers of historical fiction especially World War Two and Paris under German occupation.

i loved this book and its so unusual and i wasnt aware an american library existed in paris. Such a good read and enjoyed it from start to finish. I love a bit of historical fiction and one about books is just the icing on the cake for me.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles gives an intense and dynamic description of the American Library librarians in Paris. The story setting happens during the 2nd World War and shows the ability of individuals to fight an intense battle by using books and literature. The book describes the humanness of the people who work at the library, their daily struggles, heartache and relationships that shape peoples existence.

I particularly enjoyed the different characters from young to old. Also, the pieces of evidence created by the librarians and the impacts of their decisions on other people's lives. The storytelling gives readers an insight into the complexity of a library, the detailed meaning of cataloguing, numbering and archiving stories that maintain their importance over many generations to come.

The insightful explanation by the author describing the characters experiences and heartaches, allow the reader to dive into a world of WW complexity within the literature environment. Few times writers allow showing the in-depth meaning of literature during war times and the difficulties people face because of it. Odile Souchet used her books and library to fight and the storyline provides a secret message to us all. The book provides easy reading to individuals who find historical WW II true-life stories interesting, especially with a more human approach. The Paris Library I rate as one of the best books I read during 2020.

I love the idea of this book and that it is based on real life events. It's an intriguing story of the American Library in Paris and how it survives during the years of occupation in the 1940s. The characters are marvellous and mostly based on real people and how they not only survive the Nazi occupation but also manage to keep the Library in Paris open, secretly delivering books to Jewish people who were banned from using the Library.

What I felt was missing, however, was the indepth feel for the struggles of daily life in Paris. It is touched on in parts but the real danger these people put themselves in to cross several checkpoints carrying books illegally to Jews is, for me, insufficiently developed; the incredible courage it must have taken is lost in place of the focus on personal relationships and the workings of the Library. I would like to have known more about the relief the books must have brought to the people in hiding or isolation and I feel the story lost this point.

Odile is a wonderful character; she is strong and independent and despite pressure from her parents to settle down to marriage she is more interested in the Library, the Dewey Decimal System and the impact books have on people. There are many other interesting characters but once again I would liked to have delved more into their lives and how they overcome the struggles of occupation with the Library as their sanctuary.
This is a fabulous story but for me I didn't feel the emotion, fear and passion I thought I would.


Thanks to netGalley for the ARC for an honest review

A wonderful read. So much history, sound advice and interesting characters.

“Numbers floated round my head like stars” is the opening sentence of this quite extraordinary book relating to the history and story of a young girl who impressed the Directress of the American Library in Paris so much she was given a position at the library. The numbers, of course, relate to the Dewey Decimal System, used by libraries thanks to Melvil Dewey’s idea dating back to 1873.

Odile Suchet had frequented the library from an incredibly young age and got to know the Directress, Miss Reeder, who persuaded her to apply for the job working in the library. Odile’s excitement was enough to convince her extremely strict, staid parents that this was going to be her chosen vocation and that they should give her their blessing. They reluctantly agreed, and she started working at the library in 1939. Odile was to continue working at the American Library continuously through German’s occupation of Paris and France.

1983 Froid Montana and we find Mrs Gustafson living next door to Lily and her parents. Lily’s curiosity about her neighbour soon develops into an extraordinary friendship between Lily and Odile (now Gustafson).

I loved this book from the first line and wanted to start at the beginning again as soon as I finished it. The writing is lyrical. The characters jump out and demand to become your instant friends. The story makes you want to hide from the world so that not one word can be missed. It really is one of the most perfect books ever!

What is most remarkable about the storyline is that it’s based on actual events and the people who ensured that the American Library stayed open throughout the occupation of France by the Germans.
‘
Janet Skeslian Charles, I hope that The Paris Library becomes one of 2020’s top books. It taught me so much about the workings of a library and the people who make it work and the friendship between Odile and Lily – every child deserves to have an older, wiser friend, an “Odile” who can make sense to youngsters when parents can’t. Thank you for sharing your beautiful writing with the world.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

I chose this book through NetGalley as a change to my 'usual' reads. I love Paris, and so a search on that as a keyword brought up this gem.
I enjoyed this book immensely. The first chapter's description of the walk from the character's family home engaged me - the view of St Augustin's Church is one I am familiar with. It is clear from the book itself and the author's note at the back that there is a deep understanding of the setting and her characters. To find that these characters themselves are real, and took part in activities that went against the rules in occupied Paris just enthralled me - I read the whole book in two sessions. Odile is a very amiable character, and her passage through the story is full of conflict on all levels. I loved the reflection of Odile's choices in Paris, and the impact they have on Lily in Froid, Montana. It has certainly encouraged me to read more about the subject. There are many books that are set in this period of Paris' history. I heartily recommend this one!

I absolutely adored this book. The non-linear, dual narrative switches the reader between following Odile’s later teen/early adulthood years in 1940s Paris, and Lily’s coming of age in 1980s America.

Odile appears in both timelines, and is a truly enigmatic character. We witness her growth and burgeoning independence in her youth in Paris, working for the American Library during WWII. Spurred on by the Directress Ms Reeder, Odile rebels against the German Occupation by helping to deliver books to both French troops, and the Jewish subscribers who are no longer welcomed into the library. We follow Odile as she tries to navigate new adult friendships alongside the increasing hardships caused by the war. As we move through the two timelines, we build and develop a picture of how these early experiences shaped the older Odile and caused her to become a more reclusive and elusive adult.

Even though readers will already know how the landscape of WWII plays out, there are twists and turns within the Parisian storyline which keep the reader guessing as we second-guess the true intentions of many of the characters.

Within the American timeline, Odile exists more as a secondary character as the reader predominantly follows the teenage Lily. Lily loses her mum and turns to Odile for help and support, becoming just as fascinated as the reader with Odile’s past and role in the war. Lily’s growth mirrors that of Odile in Paris, we see her tackling a range of situations which are universal to younger generations on the cusp of adulthood. However, within these challenges we see and hear Odile’s advise and cautionary tales as she uses her own experiences to help Lily to navigate these trials.

Both characters are fully fleshed out and are equally compelling for the reader, but the greater intrigue does exist in the Parisian timeline where the stakes for all of the characters are naturally much higher.

For me this book seemed as beautifully written, thoroughly engaging, and completely immersive as the 2014 prize winning “All the Light we Cannot See”. I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in war literature, and enjoyed the fact that the events of the war were played out on a smaller, non-front line, scale. Through following a female perspective of the war and the physical/emotional cost of it, this novel does add a unique twist to a well-known age.

There are some formatting errors within the story, but hopefully these will be fixed prior to publication.

I love historical fiction, especially fiction set in Occupied Europe during WW2, and a historical novel based on the true story of a Library in Paris during WW2, well its win-win.

I had never heard of the American Library in Paris and was amazed that it was able to remain open during WW2. This novel is not just about the library though, its about the people involved in the library.

Odile, the young Parisian whose lifelong ambition was to be a librarian in the Library. The librarian, particularly Mrs Reed who is a real person, who stood up to the Nazi’s; delivering books to members of the Jewish community. This was during the occupation where books were banned, and Paris was for many on lockdown. The book interweaves through everyone’s lives but focuses on the library and the community work carried out within the library rather than the harsh reality of Nazi Occupied Paris.

There is a dual timeline where an older Odile befriends a young neighbour Lily. I am not sure what this brought to the novel, and I would have rather preferred the Parisian timeline, which is why this novel is 3 star rather than 4 star.

If you are as big a fan of historical fiction, then definitely make the time to read this. And took browse the American Paris Archives, I found Mrs Reed’s report dated September 1939 to June 1941 which makes fascinating reading.

A love letter to Paris and french culture, as well as a stark picture of wartime life. The Paris Library depicts what it was like for a young librarian in occupied Paris during the Second World War. According to the afterword, many of the events and people in the book are based on the real history of the American Library in Paris, which just makes it more amazing! We follow the story of Odile, her dream realised of working in the library and then the change as war is declared and the hardships of life under the new reality become evident. The librarians send books to servicemen on the front line; endanger themselves in order to deliver books to their now-banned Jewish subscribers; they protect the books in their care and struggle to remain open so that at least their haven still exists. Alongside this we see Odile as a much older woman in 1980s America as she helps a young girl, Lily, after Lily’s mum passes away. The two stories grow closer together as we learn more about what happened in the war: under those horrible and pressurised circumstances Odile made choices as a young woman which she regrets, and she passes on her important life lessons to Lily (as well as a passion for french culture!) enabling her to thrive.

At the very beginning of the book, there were a lot of Dewey decimal codes interspersed in the first few pages and I thought it was going to be a slow read, but it grew on me and I actually ended up invested in Lily’s story the most in the flash forwards, which I also didn’t think I was going to enjoy at the start - I’m glad I didn’t let first impressions stop me from reading.

My thanks to #netgalley and to Two Roads Books / John Murray Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent! A good story based on fact from the Second World War. Told with an unusual twist brought into the more recent past.

"Libraries are lungs [...] books the fresh air breathed in to keep the heart beating, to keep the brain imagining, to keep hope alive."
My goodness this book was a treat. It tells the story of Odile, working at the American Library in Paris at the outbreak of war in 1939. She and her colleagues fight to protect the books and the library's accessibility to everyone amid the fear of Occupied Paris. And how I fell in love with the characters, their relationships, their world. The story is interspersed with that of Lily, living next door to Odile in 1980s Montana. As the book went on I was disappointed every time the setting switched to the '80s, so rich were the wartime sections. But from about half way through I came to love Lily and her story just as much, especially as tendrils from Odile's past began to intertwine with her relationship with Lily and her family.
At first I felt a little overwhelmed by the scope of the novel; there were so many incidental characters I struggled to keep them all straight in my head. But I soon saw how vital they all were, particularly the staff and subscribers at the library. And many are not fictional; Charles's author's note confirms that the wartime history of the library runs through the book and makes it resonate all the more.
I loved so many of the little touches; the Dewey Decimal system is part of the novel, referenced in a throwaway feeling, in a character's actions, and the love of books is so clear in every page.

WOW WOW WOW. That's all I could think after finishing this beautiful book. Going in I didn't have any expectations, but I'm sure that if I had any, they would've been exceeded!

The writing is incredibly captivating and has an almost magical feel to it. It draws you in to a what-feels-like magical library in Paris where every booklover would love to set foot one day (I know I would!). There's a more serious and menacing undertone to the writing, as it's a novel that takes place during the Second World War, but that takes absolutely nothing away from the beauty of the writing.

There are so many layers to this book's plot. It's about an important historical happening, women empowering each other through books, love, grief, family, friendship, and so much more. Don't go in expecting a book about just a library in Paris, because your heart will be broken and mended many times over!

I loved the characters. Odile read as a true Parisian who has a feel for the city and the people who enter the library. Her parents are constantly on her back about getting a job and getting married, but Odile loves nothing more than working in the library and I really loved that about her. She's an independent woman in a time where independent women were frowned upon. She's also not afraid to own up to how the war and her experiences have changed her, though it may take a little while for her to actually open up.

Lily, I liked a little less, even though she also was a very solid character. She goes through a lot at a young age and fortunately can seek shelter at Odile's often. I love the added French words that are written when Odile learns French and I especially loved the friendship between these two ladies. They're so different from each other, yet so alike.

While reading, I had to pace myself. I didn't want to read this book too quick but I also really wanted to know what happened to Odile and Lily in the story. For me it's really telling if I want to pace myself. That means I'm really invested in the story and I really want to know what happens next. And knowing that this book is based on something that happened in real life, made me love it even more.

SO, if you're looking for a historical fiction novel that will make your book loving heart beat faster, this is definitely one you have to check out!

I read this book in a few days. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres. Much of this book was set during World War 2, and although that is not my favourite era., I was swept along with the story and in spite of some unpleasant facts of life at that time, I found it interesting, informative and enjoyable. Odile was a librarian in the American Library in Paris. She and her colleagues took risks in delivering books to Jews who were no longer allowed to visit libraries. We follow Odile’s life at this time, along with that of her friends, then in 1980s Montana after she has been widowed, and alone. She is befriended by Lily, a young girl, who is also lonely, and whose mother has recently died. They learn from each other and we, too, learn the power of love and friendship, and what is really important in life.
I recommend this book to everyone. and I am grateful to Janet Skeslien Charles and John Murray Press for letting me have an ARC edition of this book.

This was a compelling read of two different people, countries and experiences but it was great. French Odile during WW2 in Paris with a love of books to elderly Odile in small town America befriending a neighbours teenager. If you like historical fiction and books about books then this is the book for you. Obviously Paris during the occupation wasn’t a pleasant place to be and this storyline reflects this A great cast of characters in both timelines help ,to set the scene.
Highly recommend and thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

What a wonderful book. I've read quite a few WWII books recently and this book has to appear in my favourites. Written about a group of people keeping a library alive in WWII, this story was written in a wonderful way, and informative, interesting and beautiful. Highly recommend.

I love historical fiction, and The Paris Library did not disappoint, set during WW2, if you love books you will really love this one.
An interesting new point of view for a very popular historical fiction event.

A great story set in Paris during the war and Montana in the 1980s. Anyone who loves books and libraries will enjoy reading about The American Library in Paris and the reality of life in occupied France.

Every so often a book comes out that says so much about a period in history and sweeps you along with it.....this is one of those books. A work of such brilliance I can not even begin to do justice in my review. If any book deserves to be a film this one does, The book is divided into two one set in Paris during the war and one set in the USA both stories interlock and are so well told. Even days after finishing this book I am still thinking about it. Odile the main character still casts her spell over me and one part of the book in the USA with Odile alone in her room is remarkable (I will not any more as it gives away the part that still makes me think about the story today).
I knew about the occupation of France but this tells it so well and you really care about the characters - many of which are real and actually lived through the period.
There are few books that make me want to go and explore the setting but this is one of them. I wanted to research the Paris Library but refused to until I had finished the book in case of spoilers and I am so glad I did as it makes the history really come alive.
Please make this a film it so richly deserves to be. One of my all time favourite books. AMAZING!

It’s a perfectly crafted story and a compelling read. The bravery of the librarian's determination to keep the library open during the darkness of WW2 shines from the pages and that books can bring a ray of light for people during dark times.

What a fascinating story. I loved reading about Odile the Librarian and how she and the American library in Paris survived WW2. The book goes back and forth between World War 2 in Paris and the 1980’s in America. I learnt a lot and also felt compassion for those who did what they had to do to survive the horrors of war.
Thank you to Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.