Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here, at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. If you're continuing with WOW, feel free to link those up as well! Find out more here.
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It's been a while since I read an epistolary novel (my favorites are still The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Dear Mr. Knightley) and I don't always enjoy them so I can be a bit picky on which I'll pick up. But I saw this book... Do you ever see a book and know from just the cover that it will be good? Then you read the synopsis and you know that not only will it be good, but will will definitely be an emotionally moving experience to read? This book says that all to me. It's my pick this week...
The Librarian of Saint-Malo
By Mario Escobar
Women's Historical Fiction, Epistolary Fiction
Hardcover, Audiobook & ebook, 384 Pages
June 1, 2021 by Thomas Nelson
Summary
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.
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Will you be reading this one?
Thanks foor the post
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