In her second novel, The Paris Library, Janet Skeslien Charles (Moonlight in Odessa) weaves the story of a woman in Paris just before and during the Nazi Occupation together with that of 14-year-old Lily Jacobsen, growing up in Montana in the mid-1980s.
Fresh out of library school, Odile Souchet lands a job at the American Library in Paris and is immediately enamored of her new workplace and its cadre of international patrons. She especially admires Miss Reeder, the library's sharply intelligent, imposing directress. But then the Nazis invade.
In Montana, young Lily, reeling from the loss of her mother and her father's remarriage, finds herself adrift. Intrigued by her reclusive elderly neighbor, Odile, Lily talks her way into Odile's house and begins asking questions. Odile, long accustomed to solitude, nonetheless strikes up a friendship with Lily that flourishes with their French lessons and shared love of books. But Odile is hiding a secret, the revelation of which will force Lily to rethink what she has come to believe about her new friend.
Charles's narrative shifts between Paris and Montana, bringing in Odile's perspective as well as that of her friend Margaret, a lonely Englishwoman who seeks out the library as a place of refuge. When the Nazis begin eyeing the library's collections, as the net tightens on the people of Paris, Miss Reeder and several others refuse to leave. Her colleagues' quiet heroism makes a deep impression on Odile, and, nearly four decades later, on Lily.
All of Charles's characters must face the consequences of their actions and do what they can to move forward with grace. A testament to courage under fire and an honest exploration of complex friendships, The Paris Library is a treat for book lovers, Francophiles and anyone whose life has been changed by a dear friend. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams