By Kelly Bridgewater
Through
letters with a famous author, one French librarian tells her love story and
describes the brutal Nazi occupation of her small coastal village.
Saint-Malo, France: August 1939. Jocelyn and
Antoine are childhood sweethearts, but just after they marry, Antoine is called
up to fight against Germany. As the war rages, Jocelyn focuses on comforting
and encouraging the local population by recommending books from her beloved
library in Saint-Malo. She herself finds hope in her letters to a famous
author.
After the French capitulation, the Nazis occupy
the town and turn it into a fortress to control the north of French Brittany.
Residents try passive resistance, but the German commander ruthlessly purges
part of the city's libraries to destroy any potentially subversive writings. At
great risk to herself, Jocelyn manages to hide some of the books while waiting
to receive news from Antoine, who has been taken to a German prison camp.
What unfolds in her letters is Jocelyn's
description of her mission: to protect the people of Saint-Malo and the books
they hold so dear. With prose both sweeping and romantic, Mario Escobar brings
to life the occupied city and re-creates the history of those who sacrificed
all to care for the people they loved.
My
Thoughts:
The
Librarian of Saint Malo by Mario Escobar captures the hurt
and sorrow of the French people and the opposite side of the French Resistance
as they fight against the invasion of the German Nazi’s during World War II. I
love the idea of protecting the books from the Nazi’s who censored the books
that the Germans, or anyone in Europe for that matter, could read. (Kind of
like America is trying to do today!) I love the idea of talking about books. I
love the idea of hiding Germans. Jocelyn is a brave woman who believes in the
importance of reading and the written word. I enjoyed her heart, and I loved
seeing her become more brave as the Nazi’s kept trying to force their hand on
her world and her beloved books. The story captured my attention, and I
finished it two days. The setting was a nice little quaint town that I have
never heard of, but I enjoyed visiting it throughout the duration of this
story. Overall, if readers enjoyed this story, they might enjoy The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron
since her novel also deals with the French Resistance.
I received a complimentary copy of The
Librarian of Saint Malo by Mario Escobar from Thomas Nelson Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my
own.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase The Librarian of Saint Malo
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