Review: `The Paris Library' by Janet Skeslien Charles
“The Paris Library” by Janet Skeslien Charles is the story of Odile beginning in 1939 when she is about to grant an interview with Miss Reeder at the library. Afterward, she thinks she has failed to answer why she wanted to work there. Later at home, she writes a note to Miss Reeder about why she wants to work there. Author Charles then skips to 1983 in Montana, where Lily meets Odile Gustafson, now an old woman. The reader meets Lily at school, where she's to write a report on another country instead of on Ivanhoe. Odile comes to Liiy's house. Lily asks questions, and her mom offers chocolate chip cookies. Mrs. Gustafson says she misses most her family and friends in Paris who understood her. She also misses speaking French.
Lily's mom has an asthma attack, and Doctor Stanchfield comes over. Lily's dad takes care of her now and says no to make-up. Mom knew everything about Lily before she got sick: bad grades on a test or an argument with Tiffany Ivers, and her favorite birds were the Robins. Lily goes to Mrs. Gustafson's house in the morning and sees a photo of her son, killed in Vietnam.
In Paris in 1939, Odile is due to meet a suitor at their Sunday lunch. Her twin brother, Remy, jokes about it, and she laughs at him. When Paul, the suitor, arrives, he defends the refugees from Spain. They talk about the Maginot Line, and Remy says he plans to run for office and change the world. Paul asks Odile about her plans, and she tells him about the job at the library. Papa says Odile doesn't need a job. Paul hopes she gets it and kisses her goodbye. Remy worries about the civilians dying in Spain and the Jews being persecuted in Germany. He says hard times are coming.
We return to Montana, the small town, and ahead to January of 1984 with snow and icicles on the roof. Mom comes home from the hospital, and Mrs. Gustafson comes over to help, bringing ingredients for leek and potato soup and putting lipstick on Mom's lips. Odile sleeps on a cot near Mom's bed, and Mom lasts only a few weeks. Odile gets the job at the library, and on her first day there, time flies by, and she forgets lunch as she's introduced to other staff and answers many questions politely and correctly. As she leaves the library, her feet are sore, and Papa picks her up in his car. Joy!
Odile gets to know her colleagues at the library: the shelver, bookkeeper, and children's librarian, named Bitsi by a subscriber. In March 1939, Margaret enters the Paris Library, desperate to speak English and missing her mum. She meets Odile, who sits her down and says, ”Tell me.” She feels at home here. Remy finds Odile in the children's room at the library, where a story is to be read by Bitsi. Her reading enchants Remy and invites her for a drink. Odile hears anti-Semetic talk at the library and, on her way home, sees her papa escorting and kissing another woman, not her mother. She tells Remy, but he's sick and doesn't believe her.
On Bastille Day, Odile goes to Margaret's flat to choose a gown to wear to a party at the consulate's mansion. She chooses a slinky black gown, and Lawrence, Margaret's husband, compliments her. After a few glasses of champagne, she forgets about Papa's mistress and the talk of war and Paul as fireworks go off. Other libraries are shipping their valuable books to safer places.
At a luncheon at Odile's house, everyone thinks Remy will announce his engagement to Bitsi, but he announces that he has joined the army and wants to stop Hitler. He leaves in three days. On the first day of spring, Lily's mom dies, and Lily watches weeks of soaps on T.V. Dad takes her to Odile's and says he needs someone to watch her; there are no soaps. Odile gives her books, and soon she's hooked on “The Little Prince.” And on French lessons from Odile. Books take her to another world.
Dad gives her a Tee shirt with an eagle on her fourteenth birthday, and Odile brings a cake. 1939, Remy leaves for the army, and Paris is dark at night; there are no lights, and people wear gas masks. Bitsie knew he was going; Lily could have talked him out of it. Men aged eighteen through thirty-five are called up, but Paul can keep up his farm. Miss Reeder stays at the library, and this is home. They hold safety drills and post directions to shelters. People read, war or no war. Everyone loves Odile's columns in the Herald, and she asks what you read. They send books to the soldiers as a bridge between cultures. Twenty thousand books are sent to British, French, and Czech soldiers.
In spite of the news that the Allies are losing ground, the author contrasts the reality of the coming war with the personalities of the library staff. Remy asks Lily to be nice to Bitsi, and she invites her to tea. Both women admit they miss Remy. At Dunkirk, pleasure boats try to rescue 300,000 soldiers. Bombs fall on the city, and refugees flee with their few possessions.
The author refers to Montana's small town in 1985 when Dad and Eleanor were getting married. Lily's friend Mary Louise wants to barf as Dad kisses the bride. Lily and Dad recall Mom's funeral in the same place. Then they go to Odile's and talk about her. Was she a spy during the war? Why didn't she stay in Paris? Eleanor is pregnant, and it's a boy named Joe.
In Paris, Odile learns Remy is a prisoner in a Stalag, and Mama is in shock. Papa hires the harlot he had an affair with to care for her. Meanwhile, the Nazis are destroying library collections to eradicate certain cultures. Over 100,000 books from the Russian library near Notre Dame are destroyed. When the Nazis come to inspect the Paris library, Miss Streeter recognizes Dr. Fuchs, a former colleague she knows; they had attended conferences together and respect one another's love of books. They have tea together, and he gives Miss Streeter his telephone number, saying he'd never destroy books. When Dr Fuchs leaves the library, he says, “Certain people may not enter.” He means Jews. So the staff carries books to their readers.
It is their way of resisting. Helen and Peter must leave the library as Peter has proposed, and Nazi checkpoints have become dangerous.
Odile visits Professor Cohen's apartment every week, where the shelves are empty of books. The Nazis have even taken her diaries. Professor Cohen is declared a Jew in hiding by “one who knows.” Odile and Paul go to a cabaret and then to an empty apartment and make love. The author describes the passion. Miss Reeder packs and is ready to leave