Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 30th April 2024
Hardback
Published: 30th July 2024
Paperback
Published: 8th April 2025
The Librarians of Rue de Picardie: From the bestselling author, a powerful, moving wartime page-turner based on real events
By (Author) Janet Skeslien Charles
Headline Publishing Group
Headline Review
8th April 2025
1st April 2025
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Historical fiction
True stories: general
Paperback
336
Width 128mm, Height 196mm, Spine 28mm
240g
The New York Times bestselling author returns with a moving new novel based on the true story of a New York librarian determined to bring books to the children of war-torn France. An instant USA Today bestseller.
'A rich, glorious life-affirming ode to the power of books and female solidarity.' KATE THOMPSON'A wonderful story about the power books have not only to inspire, but also to rescue and restore.' RUTH HOGAN------------------------Under what was left of the roof of the ruined cottage, a girl with pigtails perched on a pile of rubble, hunched over a book...1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson leaves the New York Public Library for the American Committee for Devastated France. Joining the women rebuilding French communities, Jessie strives to establish something new - children's libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.1987: Librarian Wendy Peterson stumbles across a reference to Jessie Carson in the archives. Consumed by her story, Wendy learns that she and the elusive librarian have more in common than the NYPL. Wendy's obsession leads to their paths converging in surprising ways across time.*Published under the title Miss Morgan's Book Brigade in the US*------------------------ reviews from the readers who adore THE LIBRARIANS OF RUE DE PICARDIE 'Beautifully written... unforgettable!' 'I love books about libraries and books. I will be thinking of these brave women for a long time to come' 'Inspiring' 'A great book for book-club discussions' 'A beautiful story of female courage, friendship and the power of books'Janet Skeslien Charles is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Paris Library. Her work has been translated into thirty-eight languages. She has spent a decade researching Jessie Carson at the Morgan Library, the New York Public Library, and archives across France. Her shorter work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Sydney Morning Herald, Literary Hub, and the anthology Montana Noir.