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A review by hannahmariebrankley
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
4.0
I had seen many people on TikTok talk about this book and when I saw it on offer on Amazon, I thought why not?
I ended up reading this in two evenings.
The Paris Library is a book of two timelines. We follow the story of Odile Souchet, who was living in Paris when World War Two broke out in 1939.
As a young woman, Odile decides to follow her passion for literature and applies for a job at the American Library in Paris. On her success, Paris is thrust into war, and not long after the Nazis move in to occupy the city.
We also follow the story of Lily, a teenager who lives in a small town in Montana in 1983. Whilst going through a difficult time at home, Lily grows close to her mysterious neighbour, who is none other than Odile Souchet.
They grow close over their shared love of France, with Odile teaching Lily the language. But Lily, ever inquisitive about her neighbour, unravels the truth as to what Odile did during the war and how she came to live in Montana.
To say I loved this book is an understatement. I was enthralled from start to finish.
When reading this book, you flit between the past and present, Odile and Lily’s stories. I have, at times, found it difficult to read a story of multiple timelines, but this flowed effortlessly. After studying Nazi Germany in history at GCSE and A Level, this made me realise how many individual personal stories we do not read about. Although this is only based on a true story, it gave that perfect balance between history and fiction. With some later googling, that made me realise even more, the horrors of what wasn’t fiction.
The only con of this story for me is that it left so many unanswered questions. So I give this 4 and a half stars.
I ended up reading this in two evenings.
The Paris Library is a book of two timelines. We follow the story of Odile Souchet, who was living in Paris when World War Two broke out in 1939.
As a young woman, Odile decides to follow her passion for literature and applies for a job at the American Library in Paris. On her success, Paris is thrust into war, and not long after the Nazis move in to occupy the city.
We also follow the story of Lily, a teenager who lives in a small town in Montana in 1983. Whilst going through a difficult time at home, Lily grows close to her mysterious neighbour, who is none other than Odile Souchet.
They grow close over their shared love of France, with Odile teaching Lily the language. But Lily, ever inquisitive about her neighbour, unravels the truth as to what Odile did during the war and how she came to live in Montana.
To say I loved this book is an understatement. I was enthralled from start to finish.
When reading this book, you flit between the past and present, Odile and Lily’s stories. I have, at times, found it difficult to read a story of multiple timelines, but this flowed effortlessly. After studying Nazi Germany in history at GCSE and A Level, this made me realise how many individual personal stories we do not read about. Although this is only based on a true story, it gave that perfect balance between history and fiction. With some later googling, that made me realise even more, the horrors of what wasn’t fiction.
The only con of this story for me is that it left so many unanswered questions. So I give this 4 and a half stars.