Generally speaking, I love historical fiction. Unfortunately I was disappointed in this one. Perhaps it's just that the plethora of WWII/Holocaust/Resistance books has made the competition too keen, but in this climate this one pales in comparison to others.

I loved the idea of a woman trying to combat Nazi censorship of objectionable content and the hoarding/removing of valuable printed works. The heroine is a strong character with courage of her convictions despite overwhelming odds. There were just too many almost trite characters and situations to keep me interested in what happened to Jocelyn in the long run -- the missing husband who returns wounded, the evil Nazi commander who is constantly threatening Jocelyn, the "nice" Nazi with a heart of gold who falls in love with her, the plucky teenage boy, the Jewish (gay?) friend, the nasty old neighbor, and on and on. Much of the storyline was just too predictable -- with a few exceptions that did keep me reading.

I also found the structural choice to write some of the novel in the form of letters to an author in Paris distracting from the tale itself. It wasn't until the very end that I came to see the reason for this odd choice.

This novel was first written in Spanish and translated to English. I've read translated novels in which the dialogue and descriptive passages are awkward and stilted. That is NOT the case here. I must say that the translation is well done and much of the prose is beautiful. I wanted to like this book, but sadly I just found it to be OK, not great.

Love, Books and War

I have read almost all of Mario Escobar's books. I really like his style of writing. He always writes about faraway places in time of war. His characters are the everyday working person and always fitting in the story told.

Jocelyn loved books and she loved her job as a librarian. She hated the war. Books are the only thing in her life that was stable and grounded her. After her husband went to war to fight she was left alone in her apartment and her books were her life. Then the German's invaded her town. There was one German soldier that wanted her and her library destroyed and one that protected her.

She wrote her story in letters to a favorite author of hers she had never met in hopes he would take them and write up her account of the events during the war. Much of the book is in letters written by Jocelyn.

This book tells the story of Jocelyn, her husband Antoine, and the library that she fought so hard to protect with all the banned books hidden within. The characters were true to life as was the descriptions of the town and the war.

What would happen to her library , will it be destroyed? Will she be Survive? Will the allies arrive and save the town?

This was a good read and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Mario Escobar, Thomas Nelson-Fiction, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and advanced copy of the book for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the first half of the Librarian of Saint Malo but unfortunately I found the plot of the second half of the book poor and this I why I only have it 2 stars

Jocelyn is a librarian in the small coastal town of Saint-Malo. She and her husband, Antonio, have always loved books. When the Germans invade Poland and turn their eyes toward France, Antonio is conscripted, and later return severely injured. When Germany occupies her town, her world is upended. She is fearful they will destroy the precious old copies of some of the library's books. It becomes her obsession to save the books in her library.

The Librarian of Saint-Malo is the story of Jocelyn's valiant efforts to save her library and her friends'' efforts to save the people in their town. I was allowed to read this on #NetGalley.

I was intrigued by the title of this book. My father had served in the war and I thought I remembered him telling me of Saint Malo. Having said that the plot grabs your attention as it weaves through the reality of life in France during the German occupation. The story is written so clearly that one can see the library and the rest of the town. But the characters bring life to the story and make this book hard to put down. I throughly enjoyed this book and hope you will too.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Although I have grown weary of reading WWII books during this pandemic, I have to say this is a beautifully written poignant story about one librarian, her love for books and what she did to save her library and books during this especially brutal time. Interesting that the author based this novel on two true stories---one from Spain and the other from France. Would like to read more from this author, as i could not put this one down.

While the story was little bit stiff, this was a great read on the City of Saint-Malo in France during WW2 thru the eyes of the city librarian. Anyone who loves books as so many of us do, as well as history itself, understand Jocelyn’s loyalty and love to preserve the books and their history at a great cost. It is truly sad that the city lasted so long during the occupation to only be decimated in the weeks following D-Day, right at the tail end of the war.

I struggled a little with the romance Jocelyn had with Hermann, the Nazi soldier. While there certainly were Nazi’s who fought because they had to, or even as spies, and life is certainly not as black and white as we would like it to be - it’s easy to group a whole people as “evil” when the lines can blur individually - he still believed in his cause and the evil philosophy of Naziism as a whole and participated willingly in it. He didn’t agree with many of the methods but the book doesn’t allude to him trying to dismantle any of it with the position he was given aside from protecting some of Jocelyn’s books and a handful of Jewish papers. So for Jocelyn to be part of the resistance especially, but so against the Nazi’s and still allow herself to seek him out - be infatuated or even love, fine, but not to intentionally pursue it - seems a little off kilter for me and unrealistic. But that’s just my opinion as a reader of a lot of WW2 stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book, set in France during WWII, captures the everyday person who does extraordinary things in the face of danger.

It was ell researched, fast-paced, and beautifully written. The characters were relatable.

I love reading historical fiction and I LOVED this book. I will definitely read more from this author.

If you like historical fiction, especially WWII, you should read this book.

Very well written historical novel. I enjoyed the characters and the story line. Thanks to publisher and NetGalley for this Arc. Will definitely pick up more by author.

What a wonderful read! I’ve always enjoyed a good war story. What I love about this is that it shows humanity, the good and the bad on both sides of the war. Poignant, beautifully written fiction about a librarian and her love for her husband, her city and her books. Uplifting, not in the “happy ending” sense, but in the sense that there remains hope for us.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for my honest review.

I'm not a traditional student of history and especially history of the numerous wars. However I do enjoy reading fiction books (based on history) about the lives of the people who are affected by war. This book was set in France and was the first one I have read that was set in France so it was very interesting to read about how the French reacted to the Nazis invading and occupying their country. The main character was a very brave woman who was the librarian of the local town library and what all she endured to try to save the books for the generations that would come after the war was over. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

This book was both hard to put down and somewhat depressing due to its setting in time. I've been reading a lot about WWII lately, the armies fighting, the concentration camps and the Holocaust, people displaced, and I still found this hard to read, and hard to let go of. During times of war, people can either rise above their circumstances, or sink weighted by their fears, and the characters in this book rose up despite ill health, poverty, hunger, and nationality. Others, unfortunately, revel in causing harm or misery to others perceived as their inferiors. That could be the hardest part to accept, that some enjoy causing harm, but it is an accurate depiction of life in general during the ages. It is up to us, reading of past atrocities, to rise above now.

This book was just okay. There were some things I liked about it, but a lot of it fell flat for me. It felt very disjointed. The author wrote each chapter as a "letter", but this didn't really come across very well, so it was confusing to read at times. The main character was also just not someone I could get behind. She was naive about so many things, and I also didn't love her romance with a Nazi, as a way to make you try and sympathize with the Nazi officer. The writing seemed juvenile, and I just wasn't invested in the story. I love historical fiction, but this one just didn't do it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher Thomas Nelson for the advance copy.

3.5 stars
I received a complimentary e-ARC of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love books about libraries because books are so precious to me. I feel the love of Jocelyn for her books, but at times she does seem to love books more than people. During this time of the Nazi occupation of France, it seems that there is not much happiness to be found. There are a few joyful moments such as when Antoine returns from the work camp, but overall, the book conveys the weight of war upon a small town.

I’m a fan of Mario Escobar and have loved his books. This was ok: the writing was good, in-depth characters and lots of suspense. Unfortunately, having just read the Paris Library, the plot was so similar that I grew bored with it. Maybe if I had read this one first I would’ve felt differently. I also found it to be depressing, with everything that could go wrong going wrong. There was a little too much disaster and not enough inspiration.

The Librarian of Saint-Malo is a very well written historical romance. Great plot and character dynamics. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

<b>Note:</b> I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Saint-Malo, France: August 1938. Jocelyn and Antoine are childhood sweethearts, but just after they marry and are hoping for a child, 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.

I didn't get it. Jocelyn was so naive about what was going on around her and for being in that much danger she certainly did not seem to have a problem speaking back to the Nazi soldiers. The story did not flow nicely either, it was too structured in style.

Saint-Malo, France: August 1939. Jocelyn and Antoine are childhood sweethearts, but just after they marry, Antoine is called up to fight against Germany. 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 surrender, 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.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this wonderful book. I had not read anything by the author before, but, as a retired librarian, I am drawn to any book that has the word library in the title, and this book did not disappoint. The writing was beautiful and through letters with a famous author, one French librarian tells her love story and describes the brutal Nazi occupation of her small coastal village.

I loved this book. Such a nice historical novel and I always seem to like books about books. I may be biased because I also love the town of Saint-Malo. So when Mario Escobar described the town I was immediately back there. I like how the story is told by letters and how it is built. The right amount of storytelling and historical fact to keep you intrigued. I got to read this book through Netgalley and this book is published in June, but I definitely want this book in my collection.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is primarily told through letters that Jocelyn the Librarian of Saint-Malo writes to a famous author Marcel Zola about her life during the German occupation of her town, Saint-Malo. Jocelyn loves literature, her husband Antoine, her home town and her friends. When the Germans take over her town she resists attempts to ban books and manages to hide rare manuscripts and titles for future generations. There is so much to like about this book. It is a sweeping story that is beautifully written. So many passages had me taking a moment to drink in the prose.
“Herein lies the soul of those who wrote them and the heart of everyone who has pored over their pages”.
As a Librarian I related to Jocelyn’s plight although I doubt I’d be as brave as her.
Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for he opportunity to read.