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| (photo: Richard Bebani) | |
Janet Skeslien Charles is the author of the award-winning novel Moonlight in Odessa and the forthcoming The Paris Library (Atria, June 2020). Her shorter work has appeared in Slice magazine, Montana Noir and elsewhere. Charles learned about the history of the American Library in Paris while working there as the programs manager. She divides her time between Montana and Paris.
Tell us about the inspiration for The Paris Library.
I used to work as the programs manager for the American Library in Paris. The library has 60 different nationalities among the members--25% of them are French. It's very international, and you have a lot of different paths that cross. You have billionaires, students, trailing spouses, journalists, writers... all sorts. When I worked there, one of my colleagues told me about Miss Reeder, the director of the library during World War II. I really appreciated her story because she was so brave. All the other library trustees were male and they went back to the States right away when the Nazis invaded, but Miss Reeder and the Countess [Clara Longworth de Chambrun] stayed on. There's actually a top-secret report--which is available online now--where Miss Reeder talks about staying in Paris.
How did you balance writing the novel with working at the library?
I couldn't really start writing the story until I didn't work at the library anymore--there's so much to do! People work really hard behind the scenes to make sure things run smoothly. We had two or three evening events per week. I would look to see which French publishers were bringing over American authors and ask if I could have a few hours of their time while they were here.
I based Odile, my main character, on a bookseller I really loved. She had a shop called the Village Voice Bookshop on the Rue Princesse. She became a bookseller when she was 40 and retired when she was 70, and she was just wonderful.
Odile has a deep love for the Dewey Decimal System, which spills over into the rest of her life.
I think it's hard sometimes when you're in a family that doesn't know how to communicate. The Dewey Decimal System became an outlet for Odile. She couldn't really communicate with her parents; it was a way for her to think about things, categorize things, process things.
The library is full of other vivid characters, including Margaret, a British expat who becomes Odile's friend.
Margaret was my favorite character to write. I enjoyed exploring her story: feeling like an outsider in Paris, not knowing where to go, not understanding the language. Phone calls must have been very expensive then, and Margaret wasn't much of a letter writer. I think she was very lonely, and then she had the experience of arriving at the library and feeling at home. That's what the library does for a lot of people: provides a place of solace and a place to find like-minded people. I hope that this book might encourage people to go back to their libraries.
The novel's other narrative is set in Montana in the 1980s, and connects Odile with her teenage neighbor, Lily.
As Odile and Lily open up to each other, Odile tells Lily about all these people from her past and they also become part of Lily. We keep the past alive that way: our people help us become who we are. It's important to have both Odile and Lily, because they really help each other. They're both going through a hard time. Lily is so lucky to have Odile in her life, but you eventually realize that Odile is also lucky to have Lily. Teenagers can be insightful--they have their challenging moments, but sometimes they can be more lucid than adults.
We learn eventually that Odile came to Montana as a war bride, and struggled with isolation in her small town.
I did a lot of research on war brides. Often, when they arrived in the States, the inhabitants of the town would be really angry at them for stealing one of their young men. They would call their mothers-in-law "Mrs. Smith" (or Jones, etc.) instead of using first names--they wouldn't have an informal relationship with them. I went to the Montana Historical Society and read transcripts of interviews with war brides from different conflicts: World War II, the Korean War. Women who ended up in bigger cities had opportunities for jobs, and perhaps had compatriots. But women like Odile were all alone.
Jealousy is a real theme in the novel--a struggle for both Lily and Odile. How did this become such an important thread?
I think jealousy is a struggle in society, especially today. With social media, people post their ideal lives and other people see those ideal lives. It is very challenging to take a step back and realize that an idealized life is not exactly a life. These pictures are one-dimensional and don't always represent the whole story. Jealousy can be so corrosive--for example, it's a pity that Odile didn't really appreciate what she had in her friendship with Margaret. In the end, I think Odile understands what friendship is.
How else do the novel's two narratives echo one another?
I tried to draw parallels between the Cold War and the beginning of World War II. In both cases, there was this ominous feeling for a long time and people didn't know what was going to happen. I think about the present, and the Cold War, too: Reagan telling Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," and now we're building walls.
We have everything we need to tear down walls and break down barriers, and that's what I hope this book will do. --Katie Noah Gibson