The Paris Library

 by Janet Skeslien Charles

This book is based on a historical library.

It is the story of a young Parisian woman, Odile, a Librarian, who gets a job working in an English Language, American Library, in Paris during WWII. Part of the book also takes place after the war in the U.S. where a young woman, whose mother dies, is befriended by the lady next door, a French woman who had married a G.I and moved to the U.S after the war.  This french woman is the Librarian. Odile is quite reclusive, but it also seems that the locals never quite accept her as the man she married had been expected to marry a local girl.  The young girl is delighted that Odile starts to teach her French.  The girl's father remarries not too long after her mother dies.  The stepmother tries to like the girl but the girl doesn't really like her.  This stepmother seems to have trouble filling the shoes of the original life and has trouble coping with the two young children that come along in short order.

The author does a great job of portraying t e various characters who work at and hang out at the Library.  The girl's father is a police officer.  He doesn't think she should be working and keeps bringing young police officers for dinner hoping one of them will ask her to marry them.  She does eventually fall for a young police officer.  He turns down a promotion offered to him by his father to convince her that he is interested in her and not in the proximity to her father.  Her parents are upset when after Hitler invades France, her brother enlists.

The book then portrays how the world in Paris changes, people are reporting on Jews, Jews are being rounded up.  On a few occasions the young woman and her beau have romantic encounters in empty apartments.  She never thinks about why these are empty and how her boyfriend knows about them til later.  Then the library gets advice that it should not serve Jews.

The girls brother is captured and is in a prisoner of war camp.  The family is able to write to him and send him supplies and he seems upbeat for a time but eventually dies of injuries.  The girl visits her father's office one day and sees piles of denunciation letters that she realizes her father has to act upon.  She starts collecting them and destroying them until her father catches her and warns her that his lack of action will be noted.

Shortly after one of the regular users of the library, a Jewess, disappears.  Odile finds out that her boyfriend, now her husband had something to do with this.  She is appalled and devastated by this.  She meets and American soldier on a bridge and eventually leaves with him for America.

Odile eventually shares her life story with the young girl including the fact that she was a bigamist.  The book was very interesting, much better than I had expected.  The only part I felt was superfluous was the step-mother.  Didn't feel her part had anything to contribute to the book.