Carol’s Comments August 2021
Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. I’ve always loved historical fiction. So when I read three historical fiction novels over the past six months, I definitely wanted to share them with my readers.
Last year, the American Library Association’s American Libraries magazine featured a fascinating cover story celebrating the American Library in Paris’ 100th anniversary. Founded in 1920, the Library provided library and humanitarian services to American soldiers, expatriates and French citizens after World War I and during the German occupation in World War II. Learning about the Library (also known as the ALP) really intrigued me. In March, while browsing through the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List and discovering the new novel The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, I knew I needed to read it.
Set primarily in 1939, Skeslien Charles’ compelling novel centers on Odile Souchet, a young idealistic reference librarian who works at the American Library in Paris (AEP). The book also includes an alternating storyline which shifts the narrative to 1983 Montana focusing on teenage Lily who befriends her mysterious French neighbor Mrs. Gustafson – Odile 44 years later- who recalls her life and exploits in World War II Paris.
In the 1939 narrative, Odile works for Miss Reeder, the ALP’s directress who must exclude Jewish subscribers from entering and checking out books from the library while also removing 40 books from the circulating collection (including Hemingway) according to official orders from the Bibliotheksschutz “ Library Protector” Dr. Fuchs, Miss Reeder’ old library colleague. Dr. Fuchs further informs her that fortunately no books would be destroyed nor would the library be ransacked or closed as long as the ALP conformed to these strict rules also imposed on the Bibliotheque Nationale.
However, Miss Reeder and the other librarians (including Odile) secretly defied these orders by joining the Resistance and risking their lives to deliver books to Jewish subscribers. The absorbing World War II narrative is based on real life events and people including Miss Dorothy Reeder, Dr. Hermann Fuchs, Clara de Chanbrun and Peter Oustinoff.
I thought it completely unnecessary for the author to add an alternate/young adult fiction element to the plot. She should have instead told the reader what happened to Odile after World War II in the novel’s epilogue. Despite its rather mediocre and melodramatic ending, I recommend The Paris Library to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or books about libraries.
Next after skimming the Historical Fiction section of the New York Times’ Summer Reading article in June, I selected The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik.
Set mainly in San Francisco in the early 20th century, Darznik’s amazing novel chronicles the life of documentary photographer Dorothea Lange. Told through Lange’s viewpoint, the reader learns how at age 23, young Dorothea travels to San Francisco in 1918 to start a new bohemian life as a photographer. Despite contacting polio in 1902 which still affects her right leg and foot, Dorothea is very determined not to let her disability impede her from being independent and achieving her dream.
Lange eventually settles in North Beach near Telegraph Hill where many avant-garde poets and artists like Imogen Cunningham and young Ansel Adams reside. Dorothea’s life changes dramatically when she meets Chinese-American Caroline Lee who introduces her to the Monkey Block, a bohemian artist colony where the two women start a portrait photography studio together funded through support from wealthy benefactor Sidney Franklin. Lange quickly attracts clients from the Pacific Heights and Nob and Russian Hill neighborhoods.
Dorothea’s life takes another momentous turn while attending an opulent party in Pacific Heights where she becomes inexplicably drawn to troubled unconventional artist Maynard Dixon. After a tempestuous love affair, they marry in March 1920. Soon afterward, problems in their relationship quickly intensify mainly due to Dixon’s alcoholism.
In late autumn 1918, Lange’s professional career nearly collapses when the Spanish flu pandemic reaches San Francisco. By October 1918, 15,000 people contact the disease and all citizens must wear masks or be arrested and fined. Dorothea must close her studio because all her clients flee to Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe or Santa Barbara to escape the virus. Lange must now try to stay well as she and Caroline care for the sick and dying by delivering food and medicine to the poor immigrant population on Market Street.
After the Spanish flu pandemic ends, Lange re-opens her portrait photography studio. But by 1932 during the Great Depression, she shifts from portrait photography work to documenting common people’s suffering through realistic photographs. She finally closes her portrait studio in 1935.
Darznik’s novel was so remarkably engaging, I couldn’t stop reading it. The book transported me to one of my favorite time periods and introduced me to the unique world of San Francisco’s early bohemian artistic community which seemed much more exciting and intriguing than the ones in New York or Paris.
At the end of the novel, the author features a very informative Notes section which reveals what happened to each real life character later in their lives, I highly recommend this well researched novel to readers who enjoy biographical or historical fiction.
After finishing and rating The Bohemians, the library’s web site thought I might enjoy reading The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman. The title and book jacket art looked very appealing so I decided to try it.
Narrated by Rachel Pomie, Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro’s mother, Hoffman’s exquisite novel set in St Thomas begins in 1807 when Rachel is twelve years old. Her parents were Jewish immigrants originally from France. While spending hours reading in her father’s library, Rachel hopes someday she can leave the West Indies and return to France which she fervently believes is her true home.
In 1818, at her father’s insistence and necessity, Rachel marries 44 year old Isaac Petit, a widower twice her age with three children. Despite this marriage of convenience, she has three children and is relatively happy until her husband dies suddenly in 1825.
Then the narrative shifts to young Frederic Pissarro’s perspective when he arrives in St. Thomas from Paris to manage his late uncle’s business. When he meets Rachel, Frederic becomes totally captivated by her. They immediately begin a torrid and scandalous love affair that nearly tears their small Jewish community apart. For many years, they aren’t allowed to marry despite having many children including their son Camille. Though all these hardships, Rachel and Frederic’s love endures.
The fascinating storyline weaves several alternating narratives together to give the reader a realistic portrait of life in the West Indies and France during the early to mid- 19th century. Furthermore, Hoffman’s unforgettable novel includes many multidimensional characters that unknowingly live with incredible secrets and mysteries only revealed many years later. The Marriage of Opposites enchanting prose and gothic themes reminded me of Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. I highly recommend it.
The books reviewed in this blog can be found in most local public libraries. My readers in St. Joseph County, Indiana can visit the St. Joseph County Public Library’s web site at sjcpl.org for additional information. Thanks for reading! See you all next time – hopefully very soon!
