The Paris Library: A Novel

“It never mattered how low I felt, someone at the ALP always managed to scoop me up and put me on an even keel. The Library was more than bricks and books; its mortar was people who cared.”

The community at the American Library becomes family to Odile and her friend Margaret. United in their love of books and intellectually curious, the people at the Library offer a place of sanity and refuge that will be especially crucial during the Nazi occupation.

“People are awkward, they don’t always know what to do or say. Don’t hold it against them. You never know what’s in their hearts.”

Advising her daughter, Lily’s mother teaches her not to judge people. Perhaps speaking about Lily’s father who works many hours and is a man of few words, Lily’s mother tries to explain the depth of his love. The author repeatedly emphasizes people’s complexities.

“He covered my foot with his. ‘And I need you. Without toi, there’s no moi.’”

Rémy says this to his twin sister Odile when he goes to the Library to see if she got the job instead of going to a rally. The author invokes the French language to describe the relationship between people. The language has a formal version of you and an informal one for close friends and family. Here Rémy not only invokes the informal version but emphasizes his close relationship to his twin by saying without you, there is no me. When Rémy later dies, Odile loses part of herself.