Book: The Paris Library-A Novel
Basic Information:
Author: Janet Skeslien Charles
Edition: Kindle
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 9781982134198 (ISBN10: 1982134194)
Start Date: June 8, 2025
Read Date: June 26, 2025
368 pages
Genre: Fiction-History, Book Group
Language Warning: Medium
Rated Overall: 3½ out of 5
Fiction-Tells a good story: 4 out of 5
Fiction-Character development: 4 out of 5
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
This story tells the tale of Odile, through both the eyes of Odile, a librarian, during World War II and Lily, a Montana teenager in the 1980’s. The story takes us through how ordinary people would look out only for their own well-being, even being hypocritical. This is all done through the eyes of a librarian at the American Library in Paris.
The other half of the story shows us a teenager who goes through tragedy. She is faced with circumstances which try her and she is found wanting. She falters under the weight of an overwhelmed stepmother and a friend who starts to move on with her life. Even turning her neighbor Odile against her.
In the end, these two women learn that even small indiscretions can hurt and separate people whom they love.
Cast of Characters:
- Odile Soucet Gustafson-main character. French woman who works in the American Library in Paris.
- Lily Jacobsen -teenager in Froid Montana. Counterpart to Odile, who was her neighbor.
- Aunt Caro-Mamam’s disgraces sister whom Odile adored because of introducing her to the library
- Benjy Jacobsen-Second son born to James and Eleanor, Lily’s brother.
- Boris Netchaeff-Russian by birth and Parisian by choice. Head librarian. Presides over the circulation disk. He knew books and what books would fit situations. Actually worked at the Library until he was 65. His nickname was increvable, This means puncture proof for the three times he was shot in the chest during WWII. Real person.
- Brenda Jacobsen-Lily’s mother
- Christina St James-daughter of Margaret and Lawrence
- Clara de Chambrun-Trustee of the ALP. A writer. Head of library after Miss Reader left. Was an American by birth, but had married a French general. Real person.
- Dr Hermann Fuchs-German Biblotheksschutz. Remembered as a good German by French librarians, but probably was more involved in the pillaging of books than known. Real person.
- Dr Stanchfield-Doctor in Froid
- Eleanor Carlson-Lily’s step mother who was trying to compete with Lily’s mother.
- Eugenie-woman whom Odile’s father is having an affair with, also taking care of Odile’s mother.
- Felix-the soldier Margaret was having an affair with
- Geoffrey de Nerciat-journalist
- Grandma Pearl Carlson-Eleanor’s mother
- Iron-Collar Mahoney-Catholic priest in Lily’s town.
- James Jacobsen-Lily’s dad
- Jameson-butler of Margaret and Lawrence
- Joe Jacobsen-Son born to James and Eleanor, Lily’s brother.
- Lawrence St James-English gentleman who is a diplomat
- Madame Simon-a cantankerous person who is always finding fault with something.
- Mademoiselle Frikart-Bookkeeper. French-Swiss
- Mademoiselle Joubert(Bitsi)-children's librarian. Engaged to Remy
- Mamam (Hortense) -Odile’s mother
- Margaret St James-Married to Lawrence, best friend of Odile
- Mary Louise-Lily’s best friend
- Miss Dorothy Reeder. Was head of the library until she was forced to leave. Eventually returned to the Library of Congress.Her top secret report on the Nazi’s in Paris can be found at the American Library Association Archives. Real Person
- Miss Wedd-British. really was sent to a concentration camp. After release, she continued to be the bookkeeper at the American library. Real person.
- Mr. Pryce-Jones-library subscriber. Retired English diplomat.
- Mrs. Turbull-cataloger at the ALP
- Papa-Odile’s father. Head of a district police
- Paul-a police man, Odile’s lover and then husband.
- Peter Oustinoff-American. Shelver
- Professor Cohen-Jewish, author
- Rémy-Odile’s twin brother who is her confidant. He enlists before the war to show their father that he is a man. The only thing that made Rémy forget his worries— which was to say the worries of others— was a good book.
- Robby-a boy who Lily is infatuated with, but cannot get the nerve to speak to.
- Sue Bob-Mary Louise’s mother
- Tiffany Ivers-a bully who made Lily’s life miserable
- Recommendation: Janet from Book Group
- When: April 2025
- Date Became Aware of Book: April 2025
- Why do I want to read this book: Book Group
- What do I think I will get out of it? Not sure. I really dislike books about things related to books. Most of them tend to show who literate the authors are. Hoping this one tells a good story beyond mentioning many books.
Thoughts:
The story is told from two perspectives: Odile, a librarian in Paris during World War II who moved to Montana, and Lily, a teenager from a small town in Montana who was Odile’s next door neighbor. For a time, I thought it was Lily telling Odile’s story, but I think it is two story lines being woven.
Also this story is being told from the perspective of the time period around World War II and from the late 1980’s. Also the story has two different locales-Paris and a small town in Montana.
There are many contrasts and comparisons which Charles is making: Lily and Odile-how they are similar despite living in different ages. The family life of a teenager who is growing up in modern America with a step-mother and a father who is tied to his work vs a Parisian family whose father is tied to his work, but having a brother who was her soul-companion. And then the contrast of rural vs city and a time of war and a time of relative peace.
I will use either ALP or the Library to indicate the American Library in Paris.
It seems like most of the book titles are either English based or those which would be read by Americans anyway. Wouldn’t a French person have a lot of French titles which would not be popular with English speaking people. Of course, it is an American library, so that may explain it.
One of the things seen in the characters is that they make the same mistakes over and over again. Is that because there is no change in their character? Maybe this is one of the strengths of Christianity. There is a need to confess your weakness, your wrong doing, repent-change your ways, work towards reconciliation, and adopt the ways of Christ. Of course, we also fail repeatedly. That is where William Law comes in and says that each morning is a resurrection.
Chapter 1: Odile
Introduces Odile who hung around the American Library in Paris. She thinks in number, particularly the Dewey Decimal system. My favorite part of library school had been the Dewey Decimal system. She has trained to be a librarian and has applied for a job at the ALP.
The only thing that made Rémy forget his worries— which was to say the worries of others— was a good book. A good book will have that effect on you.
I never judged a book by its beginning. Instead Odile will look into a book and read a random passage.
“Reading is dangerous,” as quoted from Miss Reeder.
Miss Reeder opens the interview with Who is your favorite author? To me this is a good question. But I am not sure how ethical it is. If the author is someone whom you hate or worse represents a group you vigorously disagree with, does this color the person who is seeking employment? I once asked what was on an applicant's nightstand which he read at night. My boss thought this was too personal of a question.
When Reeder asks why does Odile want to work at the ALP, she gives a nondescript answer. That ends the interview.
home was a place where there were no secrets. Really? In this story there will be many places where there are secrets. Secrets which were better unsaid, but which get blurted out. A totally transparent person I think would be boring. GK Chesteron said
I should think very little of a man
who didn't keep something in the background of his life
that was more serious than all this talking.
The Man Who Was Thursday, Chpt I
Also on secrets, does this mean that there is no place which one can feel comfortable in because each of us have secrets?
Chapter 2: Lily
Introduces Lily and her family. Lived next door to Odile. Buck Gustafson had died a couple of years before and Odile was somewhat of a recluse and nobody knew too much about her.. Lily has made a hobby of observing Odile.
Lily’s mother seemed happy when talking with her friends. This made me think that there were things about Mom I didn’t know, though she wasn’t mysterious like Mrs. Gustafson. We all have something which somebody does not know about us. Our inner place of happiness.
Lily is assigned a paper and she decides to do it on Odile. Brenda says that there might be a reason why Odile is a recluse and did not go back to France. Odile notes that there are always questions one is not prepared for-in a job interview or in life. Odile says that The best thing about Paris? It’s a city of readers. Their books were as important as furniture.
Pastries: financier and opéras, cigarettes Russes (Russian cigarettes cookies) What are they? Can I make them?
Interesting: Odile was the only one in Froid, Montana to lock her door. Is this saying she was a closed person? Odile said that everything in Paris was open.
Brenda almost fainted. Odile catches her and calls the doctor. The doctor does not like her breathing or blood pressure. She got weaker. Used to be able to go birding.
Chapter 3: Odile
Odile’s father wants her to get married. He has his single policemen come to Sunday lunch. In French families, Sunday lunch was a ritual every bit as sacred as Mass, and Maman insisted that we look our best. Paul is the policeman who was the 15th to be brought over.
Odile and Remy’s father did not think they did anything good.
During a discussion about immigrants from Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Papa complained about all of the Spanish who were coming into the country. “What are innocent civilians to do?” Paul asked Papa. “Remain home and be butchered?” Relevant for today.
Usually Odile tuned out of the discussions with her father and the policemen. But Paul seemed to have a mind of his own. This time, I decided to stay. I wanted to hear what Paul had to
Remy was pondering leaving law school
Chapter 4: Lily
Lily’s mother is in the hospital and may not survive. Lily remembers things about her mother. But the most important thing is that It was important for her to leave a place better than we found it. This is a good thought to remember someone whom you love. Brenda does come home, but cannot do much. She does observe and impart some wisdom to Lily. She does not have much time left.
She notes that Lily’s Dad works long hours because he wants to make sure they are secure. Sometimes her Dad does not know how to express his love.People are awkward. Don’t hold it against them. You never know what’s in their hearts.
“Humans have families,” she continued, “but what about geese?” I shrugged. “We say a gaggle of geese.”“How about sparrows?”“A host of sparrows.”“Hawks?”“A cast.” …An unkindness of ravens. Think Charles is trying to say to us, we can be like birds. It is up to us what kind of bird we are.
“Leek-and-potato soup.”
Chapter 5: Odile
Odile gets hired at the ALP.
Remy notes that without her there is no me.
Her Aunt Caro had introduced her to the wonders of a library and its organization. She notes that within a library is a universe. There is a treasure hunt. In the old days, you had a card catalog which you could browse through and pick up things at random. Aunt Caro had the tiniest waist and the biggest brain. … As a reader, she was an omnivore, devouring science, math, history, plays, and poetry.It was because of her Aunt did she need a job.
This chapter introduces us to the cast of characters in the ALP.
Chapter 6: Odile
One of the tasks Odile had was to write about the ALP in the Herald. Odile thought interviewing the staff and subscribers might be of interest. She interviewed Mademoiselle Frikart, the bookkeeper to start with. Interviewing her was like watching a rose bloom: she opened up, the petals of her cheeks pink with passion.
When Odile met Bitsi, Bitsi declared that they were bookmates. I was skeptical about soulmates, but could believe in bookmates, two beings bound by a passion for reading. There are some people who you meet where you realize that you and that person have similar tastes in books.
Bitsi says that she cried after reading The Brothers Karamazov. “First because I was happy to have read it. Second because the story was so moving. Third because I’ll never again experience the discovery of it. Odile’s response was that “Dostoevsky’s my favorite dead author,” and that Zora Neale Hurtson was her favorite living author-She was living during the 1930’s and 40’s. Talks about reluctance in letting go of a book. Wanting more from certain characters.
Chapter 7: Margaret
Description of Margaret St James
Chapter 8: Odile
Talks about the night time closing routine. After a day spent answering questions, this silence was our reward.
There are times when Charles seems to be a bit too cute with words. Such as when she met Paul among the stacks, Charles writes I suppose I should step away, but the books were indulgent chaper(chapter?)-ones. What does that mean? I am thinking that chaper is either something to do with chaperones, in which case this sentence is beyond my comprehension. Or it is a misspelling and she means a chapter book, like a romance novel. In which case she means they are in the section of passion and lust and that Paul and here are lost to their passions. If this is true, I think this is a pretty bad illusion.m
Pay day, so she sees Miss Wedd and thanks her for the reference to Heraclitus. I loved what he said about how ‘No man ever steps in the same river twice.’ She realizes that she does not want to end up like Aunt Caro, destitute. That Money equaled stability. But does it? How many people receive money, substantial amounts of funds and it just brings downfall?
Talks with Remy But More and more, he was… gone. More mentally than physically. Remy is distracted by the rise of facism in Germany, Italy and Spain. He no longer studies. He asks the question: “What’s the point of studying laws when no one respects them? True. Or bends the laws to their own purposes.
The ALP also donated books to other libraries and needed people. Later on to soldiers on the front and then to prisoners.
Something told me she (Margaret) needed the Library. Something told me the Library needed her. Over dusty books, our conversation had flowed like the Seine. I hoped more than anything that Margaret would join our cast
Chapter 9: Odile
Chapter starts off by a subscriber rattling off some anti-Semitism stuff.
Odile found out her father was having an affair. When confronted with this, her brother Remy says part of growing up is realizing parents have their own lives, their own desires. When Odile’s Aunt Caro, whom Odile worshipped, found out her husband was having an affair, Caro filed for a divorce. To Odile’s mother this was scandalous, not so much the mistress, but the divorce. Interesting placement of moral concerns. While her mother loved her sister, she cut off relations with her. To Odile, this made love conditional.
Interesting thought. When you believe in something, really believe in it, you can give your all and it does not feel like you are sacrificing. [Odile]“You’re kind to give so much time.” [Margaret]“It’s easy when you believe, and I believe in the Library.”
With her Pap fallen from a pedestal, she wanted Paul to be perfect. I’d seen love go wrong. Now I wanted to see love go right.
“Books don’t lie or steal,” he[Paul] said. “We can depend on them.”
Make the courtship last as long as you can. Once you marry everything changes. Interesting advice. There are whole books written on this. But I think this is wrong. The important thing is not to have a continually feeling of newness, rather to be maturing. Such as a reader would not want to stay with Maurice Dendak until he died, even if he enjoys going back and looking at his books. Rather the reader would want to graduate and enjoy Lloyd Alexander then others and JRR Tolkien and so on. In the same way a marriage is one in which you adapt to each other and mature.
Chapter 10: Odile
Oldie was in love with Paul; Remy with Bitsi. We knew each other’s secrets. Rémy was my refuge. Yet everything was changing. Change is what creates tension in a story. Charles is signaling to us that things will be different now.
Oldie tells Margaret that the best thing about being abroad is that you can try new things and nobody back home will know how much of a fool you have been.
Chapter 11: Odile
A family dinner was to be the announcement Remy and Bitsi were to be married. Instead Remy announced he was going into the army.
Chapter 12: Lily
Lily’s mother has died. It was her mother who opened the curtains to let the morning light in. But this is not something which either her Dad or she did. House of darkness. A good illusion to the hole which death brings.
Odile was commissioned to look after Lily, In Froid, she [Odile] stuck out like a sore thumb, but maybe in Paris, she was just an ordinary finger. I longed to see her world. Would she ever go back? Would she take me with her?
Surprisingly, she[Odile] didn’t know basic things, like the fact that you’re supposed to lick the beaters clean. The subtext on this is that the reason why you bake is to eat the dough and like the beaters. Odile’s answer to limiting cookies was that literature was the way to feed the soul.
She found out about masculine and feminine words. I imagined tables wearing dresses. A denim miniskirt or floral gown that grazed the ground. It seemed silly, but then I remembered Mom combing her hair at her vanity, knees brushing its gingham skirt. The idea of a table being a woman made sense.
“Don’t close your heart.” Odile’s words of wisdom to Lily about why she should not give up on Robby.
Lily’s Dad has met another woman, Eleanor, about eight months after her mother’s death.
Chapter 13: Odile
Remy leaves for the army. Odile feels alone-Paul is also out on a farm for a month. She is upset with Bitsi, but Margaret sees that it is herself who did not listen to Remy. She did not hear from Remy. Boris explains that the army life leaves little personal time or energy. Odile says it’s hard to be the one left behind.
To Odile, being in the Library was a work of love. The extra hours spent with Helen-in-reference to learn how to find answers for subscribers wasn’t a chore, it was a treasure hunt.
The war has started with France and Britain declaring war on Germany.
Chapter 14: Odile
Since Rémy had left, I often found myself in the middle of a room, unable to figure out where I belonged. Boris who had been called up to fight in the French Army and who fought in the Russian Revolution talks about his experiences.
Charles reveals her thoughts about fighting wars, that we should not kill.
Chapter 15: Odile
It’s wonderful to get to know someone by the books they love. When I first go into a home and am given a chance to let my eye wander, the first thing I look for is a bookcase. Then to see what books they are interested in.
Miss Reader starts up a service which delivers books to the front lines. Odile is the person who is charged with talking to the newspapers about the service. In there she makes a remark that no other thing possesses that mystical faculty to make people see with other people’s eyes. The Library is a bridge of books between cultures. Not sure about the factualness of the “no other”, but I do believe the part about books being the bridge.
We all have a book that’s changed us forever,
This seems to be the chapter where Charles goes all out to bring out the love of books.
She also talks about the friction between Odile and Bitsi and the uncertainty with Paul.
Chapter 16: Odile
Her being upset with Bitsi has reached a state where Miss Reeder takes action. She sends Odile to the American Hospital to help take care of the wounded. I threw myself into the task, trying to forget the hole in my heart, the one I’d dug myself. Nothing like being away from a situation, working hard to make you realize that there is something which you should be doing.
Chapter 17: Odile
Bitsi and Odile were now getting along. Germany had invaded north and was threatening France where Remy was. She gets sent to an overwhelmed American hospital.
Chapter 18: Odile
Germans bomb Paris. Miss Reder’s family wants her to return back to America. Her response is Because I believe in the power of books—we do important work, by making sure knowledge is available, and by creating community. And because I have faith. Interesting end of the comment that Reeder has faith, but in what? She says in young women who will set the world right. I would look at that as misplaced faith. Two counts. First, the young do have ideas about how things should be. Eventually they see that things do not work that way and their thoughts will become jaded. Also, is there that much difference between males and females that females will look to higher ideas?
Then Odile finds out that the French and British armies had been defeated and that many had escaped at Dunkirk. She is disillusioned.
WE PARISIANS WERE a blasé breed. We walked quickly but never rushed. I like this image,
Chapter 19: Miss Reeder
Miss Reeder was dealing with the turmoil of those who loved her and wanted her to return to the States. But her heart was in Paris and that is where she was staying. If her parents had taught her one thing, it was to stand her ground, whether dealing with a malicious schoolmate or the domineering cataloger at the Library of Congress.
Her housekeeper informed her that the Germans had swept through the Polish library and taken away the valuables. The Nazis had been in Paris for three days, and it was starting. Miss Reeder had hoped that churches and libraries—quiet places of devotion—would not be disturbed. This was the enemy Miss Reeder faced-the desecrator who did not respect either the holy nor the tradition.
This book was published in 2021. I wonder if she was thinking about what Trump was doing in his first term when she wrote this chapter. I wonder how she would write it now?
Chapter 20: Odile
The family had not heard from Remy, until Papa told Odile to come home now.
Chapter 21: Lily
Eleanor and Lily's Dad are getting married.
Odile says to Lily I used to wonder what my number would be if I had one. We could create our own. In reality, what is my place in this world is what is being asked.
The after marriage time when Odile took care of Lily was a time of bonding between the two females. When we finished, I felt like no matter what happened, I’d always have a place with Odile. As we go further in the book, we find this is strained due to Lily’s curiosity and immaturity.
Numbers came easy to Dad. They always added up. Words were trickier. He never understood their weight.
This chapter starts the competition between Eleanor and Brenda, Lily’s dead mother. This was a competition, mostly in Eleanor’s mind. Things like how much did Brenda weigh, how was Lily taken care of as a baby, … She could live in her house, she could mother me all she wanted. But Eleanor would never be my mother.
When Eleanor announces that she is pregnant, Lily’s thought is along the lines of will she be kicked out? We didn’t have an extra bedroom. Where would they put it? They cleaned out the father’s office. Lily saves things which remind her of her mother.
there was… something in Odile’s voice. Something tart. Something that made me wonder what a man had told her. This is in reference to something James had told Eleanor. Something which Odile would reveal later in the book.
Chapter 22: Odile
Papa found out that Remy was a prisoner of war and was injured. He hires his mistress to take care of Odile’s mother. She actually does take good care of her. Odile eventually recognizes that Eugene cares for her mother.She has had her own suffering.
Margaret returns, even though she is a British citizen.
Nazi’s are seizing anything of value which pertains to culture which they do not like. So far the ALP has not been gone over. But they have been informed that the book Gestapo will be coming. The book Gestapo is Dr Fuchs, an old friend of Miss Reeder.
Chapter 23: Odile
There were banned books, about 40, and banned subscribers such as Communists and Jews. The solution was that even though these subscribers were banned from the Library, the librarians could bring books to the subscribers. But there were risks if they were caught. Delivering books will be our way of resisting.
When Miss Wedd was arrested, Miss Reeder asked the foreign staff to leave the country. Helen and Peter would eventually be married to each other.
And then there were these anonymous letters to authorities identifying people who the Germans should be interested in. These were called crow letters-on a cursory looking, I do not see a reference to these types of letters being called crow letters.
Chapter 24: Odile
Eugenie and Hortense became friends.The father is working later each night. The occupation is taking a toll. Paul appreciates Odile’s independent streak.
When there was a quarrel between de Nerciat and Prye-Jones Odile asked “Was it hard to take the first step?” {de Nerciat] “It would have been harder to lose a friend.” Something to remember.
Paul finds an abandoned apartment and they have sex in it. Odile never asks why it was abandoned. How did Paul know?
Chapter 25: Odile
Miss Reeder has been ordered to leave France by the directors of the library. This is causing great consternation. But there is wisdom as there is the feeling that America will be joining the war soon.
Miss Reeder’s parting words to Odile is if you can’t hold your tongue, that knowledge is wasted. Your words have power. Especially now, in such dangerous times.
Chapter 26: Lily
Eleanor is taking everything on herself and is failing in trying to live up to the standards which she thought Brenda held. But Lily was also having to do many of the things a mother would have. Lily is exhausted and not able to spend time with her friends. Schooling suffered. Both Lily and Eleanor explode on Lily’s father.
Odile talks about the time in the war, how people were just trying to survive. She did not know about the concentration camps until after the war.
Sometimes, when you win, you lose.
Love is accepting someone, all parts of them, even the ones you don’t like or understand.
Chapter 27: Odile
Countess Clara de Chambrun becomes the new Directress of the ALP. She was a founder of the ALP. America entered the war. Paul proposes marriage.
Paris had a resistance hoping for a French victory but there was also a subcurrent of hatred of the Jews.
“Not all laws are meant to be obeyed.” Margaret said this when Odile wanted her to register. There is not any discussion in the book about which laws should not be and what the rationalization for disobedience is.We are left with this tantalizing phrase without guidance from Charles.
Chapter 28: Margaret
Margaret encounters a checkpoint and is taken prisoner because she is English. In her cell are other English ladies who were part of a book group. She has time to reflect on her life and how she portrayed herself as something which her husband wanted, but once married, she was not. She got what she wanted and realized she did not know what she wanted.
The guard lets her go. But on the condition, she must read to him once a day a chapter.
Chapter 29: Odile
Odile talks with Professor Cohen about her family and how her father wants her married. Cohen’s response is that Odile should accept people for what they are, not your image of who they should be. The thing we can change is how we see people.
Odile noted that Jewish people were not just banned but were also targets.
Chapter 30: Odile
The old rendezvous place is now occupied. They find a new one which gets a new owner while they are in it. Margaret does not come in. The library may be spied upon.
Chapter 31: Odile
Margaret lets Odile know about the affair she is having with Felix, a soldier, a German soldier.
The Countess met with Dr Fuchs. Fuchs interrogates them about banned books. They answer and pass.
Cohen invites her to look at a book by Jean Rhys called Good Morning, Midnight. I opened to a random page, the way I usually did to get to know a book. That is one way to figure out if a book is worthwhile reading. Not sure that there is a sure fire way of saying a book is a dog or golden except by reading. Some people say if a book has not grabbed you in the first 50 pages, a take a pass-the 50 has a variety of ways. Others, the first and last chapter.
Chapter 32: Boris
Boris was at a friend's house playing cards when the Nazi’s showed up. People in Paris were hungry and resentful around Germans. they were intimate enemies. Nice line. The mole who had come to the library shot him.
Note: Boris was really shot three times in the chest and survived.
Chapter 33: Lily
Lily and Mary Louise were snooping in Mary Louise’s sister’s stuff. When Lily gets home, there is a discussion on searching for other people’s secrets. Odile says that everybody has secrets. Be grateful for when a person feels confident enough to share their secrets with you. The limits on sharing may have nothing to do with you. But also once you know a person’s secret, do not go about revealing them. This is one of the things Charles presses on in the book.
Odile leaves for Chicago and leaves the Jacobsen’s to take care of the place. Lily and Mary Louise take that opportunity to snoop around Odile’s place. She discovers some of the anonymous letters which were sent to the police. Odile came home unexpectedly and caught them.
Chapter 34: Odile
Fuchs intervenes and gets Boris to the American Hospital where he is treated.
Margaret wants Odile to meet Felix. Odile is repelled by the idea.
Remy died.
Chapter 35: Paul
Charles portrays Paul as a mixture. He does not want to carry out the orders which means to target a variety of people, including Communists, pacifists and Jews. He considered fleeing to the Free French area of France so he would not have to, but that meant leaving Odile and the things he loved. So he carried out the orders.
He thinks that Odile’s father is also in on the arrests of these people, so it must be OK.
He came to arrest Cohen. She recognizes him and gives her a book to give to Odile. He recognizes the book as from the ALP. He ponders what to do.
Chapter 36: Odile
Odile’s mother wants Odile close by. There is a moment when Odile understands her mother’s concerns. When she returned she felt lucky to have such friends, to be back where I belonged.
When she returns to the ALP, she has to decide what to do with Margaret. She decides that she needs to resume the friendship and Margaret rescinds the request to see Felix.
As You Like It: “these trees shall be my books, / And in their barks my thoughts I’ll character.” I made a note when I read this: is this what the book is based upon? Later on, I am not so sure.
Paul makes a comment about her father commenting about what Paul and the police are doing. Odile does not let him finish and Paul stalks off and Odile does not understand.
Odile and Boris visit Cohen and she is not there. Paul lets Odile know that he arrested Cohen. Odile goes to her apartment and finds it is now occupied by someone else. She asks her father and her father would not say anything. She goes to his work to try to get her freedom, instead finds a stack of crow letters-letters which denounce other people.
He says he has to do this as if he did not, there were others who would and his family would starve.
She realizes that people in her life are not the people she thought they were, including herself: Paul wasn’t who I thought he was. Papa wasn’t who I thought he was. I wasn’t who I thought I was. Isn’t this true? We all have an inner part of ourselves. Some let this inner part show on the outside. We all have a mixture of evil and good. As a Christian, I think the evil is the stamp of our original sin which causes us to degenerate and come off badly when exposed. But then I also remember we have the image of God implanted in us. When we are at our best, we try to mimic God.
Odile’s father says “My job is to uphold the law.”“But what if the law is wrong? What about the innocent men and women harmed by these accusations?” He ushers her out and she realizes how powerless he is against the Germans.
She realizes that it was one of the patrons who denounced Cohen. The scold with the tombstone teeth had written crow letters? We’d seen her nearly every day and only now discovered who she truly was? “She’d better never come back!”
It is possible that Cohen was able to sneak out of the detention center.
Chapter 37: Odile
Odile is now suspicious of everyone in the library. She goes to her father’s place and steals some crow letters and burns them.
Margaret tells her that the ALP is running so thin, that when Odile is gone, it is at its breaking point.
She is still upset at Paul. Paul is feeling guilty and tries to make up for it by punching a drunk Nazi. He hopes that Odile will forgive him for Cohen.
Chapter 38: Odile
Mr Pryce-Jones was arrested and taken to an internment camp. This war was taking everyone I held dear. In a moment of impulse she returns to her father’s office and gets caught. Her father says to go home and never come back.
Chapter 39: Lily
We now know the backstory of the letters. Odile understands the reason why they may have nipped, but is hurt that Lily thinks she is capable of writing them. She tells Lily to go and not come back. Odile has withdrawn from contact with anybody. The townspeople also know that they misjudged her when she came to Fjord.
She talks over with the pastor, but leaves out the accusation part, making it a bit hollow. Mary Louise now has a boyfriend and is spending time with him. Lily is lonely. She did learn when Tiffany said cruel things, just to walk away. Even in her silence, Odile taught me.
Eleanor matures and reaches out to Lily, They go on a day trip in the car to the big city of New Hope where they do some shopping. During this trip I moved from the formal vous to the informal tu.
When they got back, Odile had a kitchen fire. But this was the ice breaker where Odile opened up to Lily. She told her life story. Odile felt guilt for not being able to destroy more of the crow letters.
After hearing Odile’s story, she started wondering about other people’s stories, particularly her Dad’s. She also thought about putting together a jigsaw puzzle with her grandma. It had been a while since I’d felt the frustration of an incomplete puzzle, but I recognized the feeling now. Odile’s story seemed incomplete.
Chapter 40: Odile
The Allies are coming and all are happy, except Margaret, Margaret said something scornful about Bitsi. Margaret’s scorn was less about Bitsi and more about her own shame. Then true to Odile’s weakness, she runs her mouth off about Margaret, leaving the impression she was a German sympathizer to Paul. She tells him that Margaret has a German lover.
Chapter 41: Odile
Liberation of Paris. Margaret’s Felix had been captured and her husband had returned. Odile and Margaret witness a mob with women who had fraternized with the Germans.
Chapter 42: The Barbershop Quartet
Paul and his colleagues came across Margaret. They mutilated her as a collaborator.
Chapter 43: Odile
Paul says let's elope and get away. Of course what we know and Odile did not know was how Paul brutalized her friend Margaret. When Margaret does not show up for the wedding celebration at the Library, Odile goes over there. Margaret confronts her about telling Paul. Margaret does say when she is wrong, Odile does not. This leads Odile to reflect I never considered what I had, only what I wanted. Margaret gives her one last gift-that is to remember her for what she did to Margaret. Margaret does not want to see her again.
Chapter 44: Lily
She and Odile have made up. Lily realizes again that Eleanor sees everything around her is Brenda’s and tries to be a good mother to all.
Talks about Jospehine Baker. In the Osher Book Club, we will be reading a biography about Baker this Fall. The book is Agent Josephine by Damien Lewis.
Lily is working with Mary Louise at a hotel. Mary Louise definitely has a more active life than Lily and does not have a lot of time for Lily. Odile says that friendship is that you won’t always be at the same place at the same time. Lily wants to commit the same thing as Odile did with Margaret. Odile warns her off.
Lily’s dad wants her to have a profession in case the writer stuff does not work out.
Chapter 45: Odile
Margaret had said she had betrayed her. Odile felt the weight of this. She found that she no longer had a place where she felt at home. She could not tell her parents, Margaret’s friends were at the Library, and definitely not Paul who attacked Margaret.
She had asked herself, what kind of person wrote crow letters. Now she knows, a person like herself.
She would divorce Paul-casting her wedding ring into the Seine. She ended up back at the American Hospital, meeting a soldier on crutches from Montana. A couple of days later, he asks her to marry him. She leaves the Library for the last time, without seeing anybody.
Chapter 46: Lily
Odile talking with Lily about how Mary Louise is splitting her time with her boyfriend. Love will come and go and come again. But if you’re lucky to have a true friend, treasure her. Odile has never forgiven herself for running away from Margaret.This now made the whole jigsaw puzzle fit into place of Odile’s life. She is telling Lily so she does not make the same mistakes as Odile. Control your jealousy, or it will control you.”
Odile shows her an article about Margaret. Lily commands her to write.
Chapter 47: Odile
Odile thinks back about Buck, her second husband. This is when she first met her in-laws and the lack of acceptance.
Chapter 48: Lily
Lily is going away to college at Columbia. Lily encourages Odile to give some of the ladies who were cold to her in the beginning a chance. For a graduation present Odile gave Lily a ticket to Paris.
Author’s Note
Charles worked at the ALP in 2010.
There she learned about many of the people who worked at the ALP. She has included many of their stories in this book.
Often, circumstances were stronger than I was-said by Dr Fuchs in real life. Makes you think that there are things which we want to stand against, but they just are bigger and more forceful than we are.
I think a better question to ask is what can we do now to ensure that libraries and learning are accessible to all and that we treat people with dignity and compassion.
Evaluation:
There are two groups of books which I usually steer away from: historical fiction and books about book things. The former because there is too much possibility of bending historical happenings to the will of the author. The latter because the author many times wants to show us how well read they are. The Paris Library has some elements of historical fiction and is a book set in the American Library in Paris during World War II. Therefore I should despise this book.
Instead, Charles tells a story about two females whose lives are connected. Odile worked in the Paris library as a young, Parisian, and still immature, adult. The story talks about her love of the library, working through World War II and the many times in which she acts impulsively. And then there is Lily, Odile’s teenage next door neighbor in Montana in the 1980’s who has a lot of the same impulses as Odile has. Odile provides wise, restrained guidance to Lily while also dealing with some of the issues of her past.
While this would seem to be your ordinary young adult book, there are some issues which allows one to think about wider issues, such as what do you do with guilt over wrongdoing, what is the place of libraries in a society, how do our words and actions affect others, and how do good people do evil things? I also wonder if the characters had good old-fashion Christian values, if they would have confessed their wrong doing, repented of their actions and worked towards reconciliation.
Charles does throw out book titles like they are beads at Mardi Gras. Still, these titles
do fit. Also the historical people she brings in are all connected with the American Library in Paris, so it is interesting reading stories of how minor figures in the history of the war and seeing how Charles brings them to life.
I am a travel stick-in-the-mud person. After reading this book, I almost want to go and visit the American Library in Paris.
Notes from my book group:
In chapter 15, Charles says no other thing possesses that mystical faculty to make people see with other people’s eyes. The Library is a bridge of books between cultures. What did you see through this book which you did not see before? How did this book make a bridge between Montana and France? Between World War II and the 1990’s?
What does the author want us to feel when we read this book?
Anytime there is a book referenced and with many thoughts, the Dewey decimal number is shown. What is Charles trying to do through using these numbers? Was this effective or distracting?
Is Charles trying to do a play on sounds with Miss Reeder’s name?
Odile says that she never judges a book by how it begins, rather by reading a random passage (I opened to a random page, the way I usually did to get to know a book). Why? (She feels that in a book’s beginning the author tries to impress you, while in the middle the author is much more in their everyday clothes.) How do you determine if a book is worthwhile reading? What convinces you to either read a book or put it down? Would you have put down this book or continued reading it based upon your method?
Miss Reeder opens her interview with Odile with who is your favorite author. Why this question? What does it mean to draw out of an applicant? Is this a fair/ethical question?
home was a place where there were no secrets. What secrets are there in this story? What happens when the secrets are revealed? Is it better to have no personal secrets? In Remarkably Bright Creatures, secrets lead to loneliness. Odile shares with Lily to be grateful for when a person feels confident enough to share their secrets with you. The limits on sharing may have nothing to do with you. But also once you know a person’s secret, do not go about revealing them. How do secrets both create the grease of relationships and the friction in relationships in this book? What are some of the examples in this book where Odile learned the lesson? At what cost? Does Lily learn the lesson? How? How is it better to have a secret part of your life and when is it better to be in the open? GK Chesterton notes that:
I should think very little of a man
who didn't keep something in the background of his life
that was more serious than all this talking.
--GK Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday, Chpt I
Lily’s mother goes through a series of what do you call groups of birds: Humans have families,” she continued, “but what about geese?” I shrugged. “We say a gaggle of geese.”“How about sparrows?”“A host of sparrows.”“Hawks?”“A cast.” …An unkindness of ravens.. Why does Charles include this in her story?
part of growing up is realizing parents have their own lives, their own desires. What surprised you about your parents? If you have children, what would surprise them about you?
“Books don’t lie or steal, … We can depend on them.” Have you ever read a book where you think an author cheated in his writing? Example, a mystery which revealed the killer without presenting the pertinent facts, or a scientist who misrepresents the data.
It’s wonderful to get to know someone by the books they love. What do you know about people when you see them reading a book or see books on a bookshelf? Can you really know the person by the books they read? Was this true in the story?
We all have a book that’s changed us forever, What book did this for you? A while back, Peter did a variation of this question to list 5 books which affected you.
When Miss Reeder leaves the ALP, she gives a young Odile these words of advice: if you can’t hold your tongue, that knowledge is wasted. Your words have power. Especially now, in such dangerous times. Charles puts words like this throughout the book. Which did you find most helpful to you? Do you think Charles put these tidbits of wisdom in the book to drive the story or for her readers to practice?
Odile noted that Jewish people were not just banned but were also targets. Remember this was not just Germans who felt this way, but some Parians also. How does a people group get to be targets? How as Christians should we act if a people has a target on their back?
One of the trains of thought Charles presents in this book is the actions of “good” people. Talk about the character of Paul. What progression do we see in his character? How does a person go from being a loving partner to someone taking advantage of a situation to being a reluctant accomplice in the deportation of a person to being the judge and jury and executioner against a person? Do you think Paul is representative of humans? Do you think that Odile’s expectations, I’d seen love go wrong. Now I wanted to see love go right, set up their relationship for failure? Why?
Margaret is another one of those “good” people who was befriended by a soldier who freed her and then got into a relationship with him (she needed to read to him one chapter a day out of a book, at the start). How did her history make her susceptible to being with this German soldier? Charles says that Margaret has gotten everything she wanted. She wished she’d known to want more. What do you think Margaret wanted? What does she get? What does Charles want us to think about concerning Margaret?
When Paris gets bombed, Miss Reeder is asked why she is not returning to America. She says I believe in the power of books—we do important work, by making sure knowledge is available, and by creating community. And because I have faith. (Chp 18) What does she have faith in? What does Charles imply with Miss Reeder’s answer to that? Do you agree? Why?
Lily and Odile wonder what their Dewey Decimal Number would be. What do you think yours would be? Do you think you would be relegated to just one number? I wonder what the experts do when a book covers multiple subjects.
And as a corollary, do certain of your life experiences correspond either to the Number or certain books?
Charles ends the book not with the question of what would we have done, rather, I think a better question to ask is what can we do now to ensure that libraries and learning are accessible to all and that we treat people with dignity and compassion. Do you think this is a fair question to ask the reader? How do you answer her question? Consider that this was published in 2021, what circumstances compelled her to ask this question? Is this question still applicable today?
What place do the father’s have in Charles’ story? Why do you think she set up the book this way? Why do the second women in the father’s life have a larger role than the fathers?
How do you want your life to change because you read this book?
Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
Why the title of The Paris Library?
Does this story work as a novel?
Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?
Which character was the most convincing? Least?
Which character did you identify with?
Which one did you dislike?
Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
In what context was religion talked about in this book?
Was there anybody you would consider religious?
Why do you think the author wrote this book?
What would you ask the author if you had a chance?
What “takeaways” did you have from this book?
Are there over-riding ideas which this book navigates through?
Describe the culture talked about in the book.
How is the culture described in this book different from where we live?
What economic or political situations are described?
Does the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious beliefs, language or food?
How did this book affect your view of the world?
Of how God is viewed?
What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?
Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
What was memorable?
Reading Groups General Fiction Guide
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1 | Chapter 1 begins with Odile noting that “numbers floated round my head like stars” (p. 3)
as she runs through the Dewey Decimal system in her head. What does this opening say
about her?
2 | When Odile is first introduced as Mrs. Gustafson, Lily notes that she “donned her Sunday
best—a pleated skirt and high heels—just to take out the trash. A red belt showed off her
waist. Always” (p. 10). What does the red belt represent? And why, at the end of the novel,
does she replace “her tatty red belt with a stylish black one” (p. 344)?
3 | Miss Reeder “was adamant that there was a place here for everyone” (p. 3) at the Library.
How do she and others like Boris and the Countess prove that throughout the Occupation?
4 | Odile and Lily come from very different backgrounds, different countries, and different eras.
Where do they find common ground?
5 | Among the Library’s subscribers and habitués are many fascinating and eccentric characters,
such as Professor Cohen and Mr. Pryce-Jones. Who is your favorite, and why?
6 | Consider Odile’s Aunt Caroline, and how Caro’s experience informs Odile’s decisions
regarding Paul and Buck. Do you believe Odile’s assertion that her mother would “cast me
out, just like Aunt Caro” (p. 332)?
7 | Why do you think Janet Skeslien Charles decided to interweave Lily’s story, set in Montana
in the 1980s, with Odile’s story in Paris during World War II? What do the dual narratives
reveal, and how do they reflect on each other?
8 | How is Lily’s adolescence in Montana similar to Odile’s own coming-of-age in Paris? How
do books and learning the French language serve as a refuge for Lily?
9 | Odile refers to Bitsi as her “bookmate” (p. 50) and later reflects on their experiences by
noting that “coming face-to-face with Bitsi is like looking in the mirror” (p. 166). How does
their friendship develop over the course of the novel?
10 | When Professor Cohen finishes her manuscript, she knows she cannot publish it, and she
entrusts it to Odile, saying, “Books and ideas are like blood; they need to circulate, and they
keep us alive. Without you, I couldn’t have continued this long. You’ve reminded me that
there’s good in the world” (p. 240). What does this speech mean to you? Does this serve as
greater motivation for Odile to continue her work?
11 | Odile discovers the “crow letters,” letters and “denunciations…from black-hearted people
who spy on neighbors, colleagues, and friends. Even family members” (p. 283) in her
father’s office. Lily, too, finds the letters at Odile’s house. What do these letters, signed by
“one who knows,” show? Why do you think the author includes them?
12 | Toward the end of the novel, after the Liberation, we see the insidious cycle of violence
as Paul and his colleagues attack Margaret, stating, “She wasn’t a woman to them, not
anymore. They’d been beaten and humiliated. Now it was their turn to beat, to strike, to
slash” (p. 312). How does this event change the course of the novel? How do these men
perpetuate the cycle of violence? Would you have reacted as Odile does, or what would you
have done differently?
13 | At the end of the novel, Odile says that “it seemed that life had offered me an epilogue”
(p. 342). How does Lily and Odile’s intergenerational friendship provide them both with a
safe place to grow?
ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB
1 | Visit the website of the American Library in Paris, celebrating its centennial in 2020, to learn
more about the Library, its programs, and its history: AmericanLibraryinParis.org.
2 | Get out a map of Paris and locate places mentioned in the book, including rue de Rome,
Saint‑Augustin church, Le Bristol, and 23 rue Blanche.
3 | Odile’s love of literature is infectious, and The Paris Library is sprinkled with references
and quotes from her favorite books, including Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were
Watching God, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and Charlotte Brontë’s Villette
and Jane Eyre. Share your favorite lines from your own favorite books.
4 | Visit the author’s website at JSkeslienCharles.com to learn more about Janet Skeslien
Charles’s work and the book.
Book Club Questions for The Paris Library
Many historical fiction stories adopt the dual timeline format—why do you think that’s a popular choice for the genre?
Were you more engaged in one storyline over the other?
What do you like best about reading WWII historical fiction? Did you know about the American Library in Paris prior to reading this novel?
Why was it important for the librarians to continue to spread the love of reading during the war?
Let’s talk about the friendship between Odile and Lily—what did they both learn from each other? In what ways were they similar?
What was the rippling impact of Remy joining the French Army?
Odile begins a romance with Paul and thinks she has it all. But when did you start to suspect a darker side to Paul?
While Odile develops a close friendship with Margaret, she also is envious of her lifestyle. And when Margaret begins a relationship with a Nazi solider, she’s horrified. What do you make of her complicated friendship with Margaret?
Margaret is eventually attacked by Paul and when Odile learns the truth—she leaves behind Paris forever to marry an American. What did you think of this decision by Odile to leave everything behind?
Will Odile ever reconnect with Margaret again?
Have you ever been to Paris?
New Words:
- financier and opéras-a type of pastry
- A Room with a View
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- And Then There Were None
- Bella the Goat?
- Beowulf
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Dracula
- Emma
- Good Morning, Midnight
- Grapes of Wrath:
- How to Boil Water in a Paper Bag.
- Ivanhoe
- Jane Eyre
- Little Women
- Madame Bovary
- Miss Maisy
- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,
- My Antonia
- Névada
- Of Mice and Men.
- Out of Africa
- Playing with Souls
- Prospective Mother
- Roots
- Shadows Lengthen
- Souchet
- Studs Lonigan
- The Age of Innocence
- The Brothers Karamazov.
- The Death of the Heart
- The Dreamers (non-existent book)
- The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
- The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories
- The Little Prince
- The Long Winter
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- The Priory
- The Secret Garden
- The Silence of the Sea
- The Sun Also Rises
- The Turn of the Screw,
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Voyage in the Dark
- Wuthering Heights.
Good Quotes:
- First Line: NUMBERS FLOATED ROUND my head like stars. 823.
- Last Line: I think a better question to ask is what can we do now to ensure that libraries and learning are accessible to all and that we treat people with dignity and compassion.
- part of growing up is realizing parents have their own lives, their own desires. Chp 9 Odile
- It’s wonderful to get to know someone by the books they love. Chp 15 Odile
- no other thing possesses that mystical faculty to make people see with other people’s eyes. The Library is a bridge of books between cultures. Chp 15 Odile
- We all have a book that’s changed us forever ,Chp 15 Odile
- Sometimes, when you win, you lose. Chapter 26: Lily
- Love is accepting someone, all parts of them, even the ones you don’t like or understand. Chapter 26: Lily
- Love will come and go and come again. But if you’re lucky to have a true friend, treasure her. Chapter 46: Lily
References:
- Publisher's Web Site for Book
- Author's Website
- Amazon-Book
- Amazon-Author
- Barnes and Noble
- GoodReads-Book
- GoodReads-Author
- Kirkus Review
- Library Journal
- YouTube
- Blog
- Armed with a Book review
- Shelf Life Reflection review
- The Bookish Libra - review
- I’ve Read This - review
- Literary Hub-Charles story on how she wrote this book
- SpyScape-Talks about Reeder and the ALP
- American Library in Paris
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