Literary Journey: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

This was a unique, insightful, and enjoyable look into Paris during World War II, told from an unusual perspective and based on real events. A young Frenchwoman, Odile, a lover of books and reading from her earliest days, trains to become a librarian and is hired at the American Library in Paris (ALP) in 1939, just as the war begins and right before the German Occupation takes place.

Odile lives with her parents and twin brother, Rémy. Her father is a high-ranking official in the French police bureaucracy, her mother runs the household, and Rémy is something of a dreamer – until he announces he has enlisted in the army, much to the family's consternation. Odile's bourgeois parents envision her emulating her mother's role, but Odile wants more out of life. Her father is resistant to her working, and brings an array of suitable young policemen to dinner to introduce to her, but she forges ahead with her plans. At the library, she encounters a number of unique individuals, including Miss Reeder, the library director. 

Forty years later, teenage Lily lives with her mother and father in the small town of Froid, Montana. Their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Gustafson, is a widow who keeps to herself, but everyone in the town knows she arrived as a war bride from France, and her first name just happens to be Odile.

The novel is primarily Odile's story, but a good portion is devoted to Lily and the bond the two form over time. Lily has fairly typical teenage concerns, but a tragic loss sends the story of her relationship with Odile along an unexpected trajectory.

Although there have been many books, fiction and non-fiction, about Paris during the war, this novel clarifies and expands on the experiences of everyday Parisians and the others in their midst during the terror and deprivation of the war years. The author is tasteful is her descriptions of the circumstances, but they are straightforward too. She does not gloss over what happened.

All in all, this is a very satisfying and informative read. Odile and Lily are both sympathetic characters that are entirely believable, and there is a lot of history to uncover here. Four stars.