Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles

1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan, this group of international women help rebuild devastated French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.

1987: When NYPL librarian and aspiring writer Wendy Peterson stumbles across a passing reference to Jessie Carson in the archives, she becomes consumed with learning her fate. In her obsessive research, she discovers that she and the elusive librarian have more in common than their work at New York’s famed library, but she has no idea their paths will converge in surprising ways across time.

Kindle, 352 pages

Expected publication April 30, 2024

 by Atria Books

3/5 stars

I loved the author's first book, The Paris Library, a story about forgotten women in history. I anticipated the same thing with Miss Morgan's Book Brigade (yea its a mouthful) and that is what I got. 

It’s near the end of the World War 1 when Jessie Carson, a 40-year-old library employee, is accepted by the daughter of JP Morgan into the CARD program. CARD - American Committee for Devastated France.  I have never heard of this program before and was treated to a glimpse of women helping restore France after the war.

There are things I enjoyed about this book, mostly the lesson in the effort of  American, Canadian and Australian women doing their part to restore France.  The library program was used to connect with those left with nothing, the war took more then just the men. It was great to see the importance of reading and how it affected the women in France, who were left alone as a result of the war.

There were also things I struggled with, mostly this was a tell story with a number of info dumps. I had to remind myself many times that this was a 40-year-old woman while her character did not always feel like it. It was slow paced and the timeline for 1987 was sparse though finally at the end everything fit together.

All in all an informative read that I liked.

My thanks to Atria Books for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review.

Review: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

Paris, 1939. Odile Souchet is obsessed with books and the Dewey Decimal System, which makes order out of chaos. She soon has it all – a handsome police officer beau, an English best friend, a beloved twin, and a job at the American Library in Paris, a thriving community of students, writers, diplomats, and book lovers. Yet when war is declared, there's also a war on words.

Montana, 1983. Widowed and alone, Odile suffers the solitary confinement of small-town life. Though most adults are cowed by her, the neighbor girl will not let her be. Lily, a lonely teenager yearning to break free of Froid is obsessed with the older French woman who lives next door and wants to know her secrets.

As the two become friends, Odile sees herself in Lily – the same love of language, the same longings, the same lethal jealousy. The Paris Library’s dual narratives explore the relationships that make us who we are – family and friends, first loves and favorite authors – in the fairy tale setting of the City of Light. It also explores the geography of resentment, the consequences of unspeakable betrayal, and what happens when the people we count on for understanding and protection fail us.

The wit, empathy, and deep research that brings The Paris Library to life also brings to light a cast of lively historical characters and a little-known chapter of World War II history: the story of the American librarian, Miss Reeder, who created the Soldiers’ Service to deliver books to servicemen, and who later faced the Nazi ‘Book Protector’ in order to keep her library open. She and her colleagues defied the Bibliotheksschutz by delivering books to Jewish readers after they were forbidden from entering the library.  

Paperback, 416 pages

Expected publication: June 2nd, 2020 Feb 2, 2021

 by Simon & Schuster Canada 
4.5/5 stars

The Paris Library is more than a story about WW2. Oh it’s a very interesting, well written, and well-researched book.  I loved the historical aspects - a library kept open during the war, how it functioned as the Nazis take control of France. It only stands to reason that those who not just work there but those that patronize it are also affected.

But my take away is more. The Paris Library is an emotional story about human nature and what happens when confronted with the unimaginable and how one reacts. Who do you trust? Whom should you fear? When one is scared it's easy to lash out in anger and confusion, to make decisions not anticipating the consequences. 

 

Told in dual time periods, I am usually drawn to the past but I enjoyed the 1983 storyline also. The developing friendship between Lily and Odile added that little something extra and actually a nice diversion from the heartbreak of Paris life during the war. 

The author's note rounded this book out nicely.  So much of this story is based on historical facts along with a lot of real people from the past making this book all the more compelling.  Written with compassion The Paris Library is a book that will stay with me for a while.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster for a print ARC in exchange for an honest review.