I didn't realize that I had read Janet Skeslin Charles' other book The Paris Library until I read her author's note in which she referenced writing another book about a library. I thought, "I think I read that!" And lo and behold, I had. However, the thing I didn't much like about The Paris Library is still a storytelling device in Miss Morgan's Book Brigade, but I didn't really mind it this time around.
This new book takes place during World War I (whereas The Paris Library took place during World War II) and focuses on a woman named Jessie "Kit" Carson who started a children's library in France - and ended up overhauling the French library system - as part of her work with the American Committee for Devastated France (or CARD, in French). So yes, the women in this novel are real women or are based on real women! Another part of history that I never knew anything about!
The book goes back and forth between Jessie's story in 1918 and Wendy's story in 1987. Wendy works at the New York Public Library, the same place Jessie Carson used to work many years before. And Wendy has discovered a treasure trove of old documents about the women of CARD. An aspiring author, Wendy decides to research CARD and learn about what happened to her fellow librarian, Jessie.
If you love historical fiction and you love learning about new aspects of history, then you'll enjoy reading Miss Morgan's Book Brigade. While it is a novel about the experiences of real women during wartime, it's also a novel about the power of stories.
Miss Morgan's Book Brigade is published by Atria Books and is available to purchase today! I received a free ARC from the publisher.
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