The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

Scrolling past the images, of soldiers on pavements immersed in reading (picture), Gertrude Stein with library staff, and dozens of children at “Story Hour” (An “American import” according to the caption) - rich, yellowed and popping with life - it is easy to see why one would be tempted to fictionalize this past. Of the many characters, some are based on real-life figures like the Directress, Dorothy Reeder, her successor, the Countess of Chambrun, Boris Netchaeff, the librarian shot at by the Gestapo, and Dr Hermann Fuchs, head of the occupied libraries. Skeslien Charles makes this history the armature of the novel. It is best known for remaining open during the years of the German occupation, even delivering books in secret to its Jewish subscribers. The ALP, too, has a digital collection on its website documenting its rich history.

In the last one year, many libraries and archives have speeded up their digitization projects, archiving even their own histories in the process. In some ways, the story is your standard historical fiction story with the dual timelines (takes place both during the WWII era and also in the ’80s in Montana). Like its contemporary, Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare & Company, the ALP’s legacy is spangled with important names from the American-European intellectual landscape. The Paris Library is a historical fiction novel based on the true WWII story of the librarians at the American Library in Paris. Janet Skeslien Charles is the award-winning author of Moonlight in Odessa, which was published in ten languages.

Established after World War I, the library, since the signing of the Armistice, has played an integral part in promoting Anglo-American literature overseas. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles is now available through Atria Books.