The Paris Library
Ratings12
Average rating3.9
I want to come back to this book, but I was struggling to get into it and encountered a chapter with a third character I didn't expect and I had to return it to get to other books. I'm in a reading funk. This is not the book's fault, just my own attention span's.
I really loved this book. Well-written, great characters, and an interesting historical subject.
A must read by all book lovers and Francophiles, this book provides a unique view of Paris during the war and the simple daily resistance of book lovers. It also highlights the importance of connections between people and the unknown impact those connections have on the people we interact with.
Such a lovely, touching book. Both storylines were interesting and meddled together nicely. I loved the characters, too, and found myself relating to both Odile and Lily, things that happened in their lives reflecting my own at the moment. It was comforting in a way, even when it made me cry.
I really enjoyed reading this book and to find out it was based on a true story of resistance set at the American Library in Paris, made it even more intriguing.
This story is told in two timelines from two perspectives. One during the war with Odile, a librarian who, along with her colleagues, risk their lives to save books and deliver them to Jewish subcribers. The second part (based in the 80s or 90s) is about a young girl named Lily whose curiousity leads her to finally meeting her older and mysterious neighbour, Odile.
It is a lovely story about love, friendship, loss, courage and resistance that is beautifully told through these two characters who realize they have so much more in common than they, or even others, believe.
A lot of the book is spent reading about Odile's time in Paris during the war and the only thing I would have wanted more of is time with Lily. I felt myself rushing through Lily's parts which made it feel like she was unimportant to the story when really her story is important to who Odile becomes to her later on.
I gave this book 4 stars out of 5 and would definitely recommend it to readers who love historical fiction.
Is you've ever been to Paris - or dreamed of it - and wondered what it would've been like to live there in a past era, or if you've ever dreamt of working in a lubrary, this book is for you. Even if you haven't, this dual-timeline story has a charm all its own. A sense of family and friendship, of what makes a community and a life worth living are only a few of the topics touched upon.
Odile Souchet gets a job she loves at the American Library in Paris and she soon acquires a boyfriend and a best friend, all of this taking place just as Germany begins its takeover of France. Everything changes once France is occupied by the Germans—Odile's brother goes to fight for France, libraries are taken over by the Germans, and people Odile loves are forced to do things they do not want to do in order to survive.
There is a second timeline in this book in which Odile is an old woman living in Montana. Odile is befriended by a young neighbor, Lily, who faces problems Odile herself faced during her early years.
I liked the book, though there were lots of things that bothered me about the story. But the dual settings of two of my favorite places on earth, plus libraries, plus lots of bibliophiles who relished talking books gained this thin story bonus points with me.
Really enjoyed this novel about the American Library in Paris during WWII. “After the darkness of war, the light of books” is the motto of the library, and looking for hope in times of hardship is one of the themes, as well as those of personal responsibility during hardship, and forgiveness and understanding of others, and regret years later. A low key book that was very well done.
This was an enjoyable look into the true story of the American Library in Paris during WWII. I especially love the author's note at the end where she goes into detail of the lives of the actual people she wrote about.
I always enjoy a good dual timeline, and this wasn't any different. Past mixed with present, secrets revealed, lives saved and loved ones lost...this has it all.
I was upset with the ending though. It felt like it was rushed and was left without a satisfactory conclusion.
Overall, though a well done and interesting look into a part of that time period I haven't read much of.