A story of murder, secrets, war and vengenance. Allen Eskens has written a fantastic historical fiction novel that will definitely be one of my favorites for 2025 and it’s only January!

Hana Barbic wants a safe predictable life as a middle aged librarian. But when she learns of her best friend’s murder, the news brings back secrets from her past, evil secrets from the war that are intertwined with her best friend. Thirty years earlier, as a teenager growing up in war torn Bosnia with her family, Hana was known as Nura Divjak. After watching her entire family slaughtered by Serbian soldiers, Nura joined the militia and became known as the legendary Night Mora. With a bounty on her head, she eventually flees to the United States and starts a life as Hana Barbic, the quiet librarian.

The story alternates between the past and the present as it unfolds in a pace that keeps the reader engaged. A heartbreaking and beautifully brutal mix of historical fiction and mystery. The author handles this difficult and brutal subject matter with such sensitivity and compassion allowing the reader to step into Hana’s world. While this was my first novel by Allen Eskens, it definitely won’t be my last! I highly recommend this five star read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholand Books for the advanced reader’s copy.

The war in Bosnia is a period of history, I am ashamed to say, that I knew nothing about. I, like many, recall watching the Sarajevo Olympics and then seeing the devastation of that country years later on news broadcasts. Eskens states that his inspiration for this novel came from listening to the stories of Bosnian refugees in his home state of Minnesota. I am glad that he listened, and I am glad that he decided to share this story through his writing.
This book did an excellent job of conveying the horrors of the war through the eyes of a 17 year old Bosnian girl named Nura who lives through the upheaval of a normal farm life with parents and a brother, to witnessing atrocities no human should ever witness or experience and being forced to grow up, adapt to an entire new way of wartime living and, eventually immigrate to a new country.
It is said that all is fair in love and war, and this book certainly illustrates that philosophy. The choices that Nura is forced to make in her life for love of country, love of family, and love of friends, are governed by wartime “rules” and not the parameters of life that we are privileged to under in a well-to-do country that is not experiencing war on home soil.
I very much appreciated learning more about this period of history, but I am left conflicted about the vigilante justice component of this story. The actions that took place during wartime, I can get behind. It is the choices and actions made by characters in modern day St. Paul, Minnesota that have me of two minds. Did Nura take justice too far, or were her choices justified and necessary? I will say one thing. Allen Eskens’s books always leave me thinking.

Eskens is a brilliant writer and this book was no exception it was well written and heart wrenching and I would read anything he writes
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review book

This was heart wrenching. This book is my first of Allen Eskens' and I was not prepared for the emotions this inspired.
Hana's story is one of love, grief and determination. Her strength is remarkable and I'm so glad she was able to find some peace.

An unbelievably enjoyable story about horrific events that actually happened.
This book centers on two characters and their separate timelines. The first timeline takes place in Bosnia, mostly in 1995, with a teenager named Nura. She is a Bosnian Muslim and therefore hated immensely by the Serbians. The events of a horrifying day led her to seek revenge by becoming a fierce warrior.
The second timeline is in present day Minnesota following a quiet librarian named Hana. Her best friend has been murdered and she must find out who did this before it may be too late for the young boy her friend left in her care.
Breathtaking story. Learned things that I didn’t know about from the war. Loved following Nura and Hana.
Thank you to Mulholland Books and Netgalley for letting me read the ARC for this book. The publication date is February 18th and I highly recommend you check it out.

A heartbreaking and beautifully brutal novel with past-and-present narration, The Quiet Librarian tells the story of Hana Babic, an unassuming librarian in suburban Minnesota whose drab sweaters belie a past no one in her community would ever guess. Hana survived the war in Bosnia by joining a band of rebels who tracked the Serbian killers and rapists who destroyed Hana's family and left her orphaned, traumatized and alone. When Hana's past comes back to haunt her, she must revisit the choices she made and hope that justice can finally prevail.

An impactful novel mixing historical fiction and a current day mystery. Not what I expected when I picked this story up, but I was enraptured by the story of Hana, both past and present.

This was a heartbreaking story of a war not many people talk about. As an American veteran who served in the Bosnian war, this hit home for me and brought back memories of the devastation I witnessed. I enjoyed this story and especially the dual timelines that took us back through Hana’s past to help understand her current circumstances. This was a captivating story and I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’m so happy to have had the chance to read the Advanced Reader’s Edition e-copy of The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens; thank you NetGalley and Mulholland Books.

The Quiet Librarian will be at the top of the list when this ‘quiet library lady’ is asked to share our favorite books for our library patrons. We have a carousel of books at the entrance to our library and everyone loves browsing the circle to see what we suggest.

Stepping into this story and becoming a part of Hana's world made this book very hard to put down; I continued thinking about her when my world made me put the book aside for a bit. Life in Minnesota was full of intrigue and heart-break and hope. I learned more about the devastation and cruelty that occurred during the alternating chapters that flipped to the Bosnian War. To be such an entertaining story, while dealing with sensitive and disturbing topics, shows the talent of this author. This may have been my first story by Allen Eskens; it definitely won't be my last.

The Quiet Librarian is not my first Allen Eskens' book, I think I have read them all. Here we meet Hana, a "quiet librarian" in Minnesota from war torn Bosnia. I did know a bit about the war in Bosnia prior to this book, but I was glad to learn more about this horrifying historical event, This felt like a new path for Eskens and I hope he leans into it further in the future. Hana learns that her friend Amina has been murdered and it leads us to a dual timeline of her life in Bosnia and how she came to the U.S. Eskens has been known to me as an author with tragic loss themes while weaving in some suspense and mystery and this rang true here. The Quiet Librarian was entertaining, page turning and quite educational.

This was such a good historical mystery. I love Allen Eskens books and this was just as good as his previous books I've read. This is not a book about books like you might expect from the title. The MC, Hana, is a librarian in Minnesota , hiding and escaping her past in Bosnia, after the war in the 90’s. I never read a book that I can remember about the war in Bosnia, so that was really interesting to me. It's a really heartbreaking story though. The story goes back and forth from the war in Bosnia in the 1990’s, and present day in Minnesota.

This book is loaded with history and mystery. I was completely captivated by the story of these girls and the traumas they faced in the past, and the danger that has followed them into the life they have made. This one was intense, so suspenseful, and well written! Definitely going to be another favorite of mine!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Wow. This book was so captivating, and I couldn’t put it down. Having little to no knowledge of the 90s conflict between Serbians and Bosnians in the mountains of Bosnia. As such, I felt really invested in the timeline of the mid-90s in addition to the present day timeline.

Hana Babić is working as a quiet librarian in Minnesota when a detective comes to ask her about the death of Amina Junuzović. From there we flash back to 1994-1995 in the Bosnian mountains and what Hana and her community went through at the hands of the Serbians. The way the present day storyline and mystery plays out with as much a sense of urgency as the fighting in the 90s made this book so hard to put down.

This is my first book by Allen Eskins and made me eager to try other works of his. Tamount of trauma, grief, utter evil but also strength, perseverance and vengeance gave me similar vibes to The Nightingale and To Die Beautiful.

TL; DR: put this one on your holds list! This book was fantastic historical fiction, taught me a lot and I would highly recommend if you like war/conflict based historical fiction with outrageously strong female main characters.

Wow, this book was so much more than I expected it to be. Devastating, beautiful, satisfying, powerful - I truly couldn’t turn the pages quick enough.

Hana/Nura was such an amazing character. Watching the way she overcame tragedy to get revenge while saving others was just beautiful. The ending was perfection.

This book is everything I love about historical fiction because I had never heard of the Srebrenica massacre or learned anything about the war Serbia waged on Bosnia. Absolutely devastating.

While I loved the quick pacing, part of me really wanted to dive more into Nura’s evolution from sheltered, innocent farm girl to fearless soldier. It happened so quickly, understandably so but I just would’ve loved reading more of it.

Such a beautiful book and I can’t wait to read more from Allen Eskens, I’ve heard nothing but good things.

4.5 ✨
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

So powerful, sad, tragic, heartbreaking... I knew about the war in Bosnia, but had not read a book dealing with it. This was so enthralling.. didn't want to stop reading... Mr Eskens, you have created a masterpiece!

A story about a woman escaping her past in Bosnia by hiding in Minnesota. If you are looking for a book about books because the title has "librarian" in it, you will not find it here. I was excepting a some more literary references because of the title, but the fact that Hana is a librarian plays no part in the book. It is just her job. That was my only disappointment. It was well written and I did not predict the ending. I liked finding out about a time in history that I don't know a lot of about. It is really well written, just darker than I was expecting. Thank you to NetGalley letting me read an advanced copy of this book!

Just wow. This book is such an interesting ride. Readers are introduced to Hana Babic, a quite librarian who no one would suspect has such a dark and dangerous past. Yet when her best friend dies, Hana knows that her past is finally catching up with her. Who it is she isn’t quite sure yet, but she is bound to find out. This is a stunning journey of a young lady who gets swept up into a war that she nor her family wanted to truly be apart of. Yet even hiding on their farm staying quiet, the war found them in the worst way possible. Out of the ashes of that experience Hana emerges promising to get revenge for her family. This is a heartbreaking story that shows the choices that people in war times are sometimes forced to make. Having been to Bosnia this story really resonated for me as a reader.
Thank you so much to Mulholland Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

5 ⭐ 1 🌶️

What a profound and horrifyingly beautiful story. This one was dark and tragic, but the touch of romance, found family and vengeance turns it into something full of hope and had me close to tears.

Hana was such a force. Born from her desire for revenge, this young woman becomes a soldier, a savior and ultimately a symbol for her people. Her early life was incredibly tragic and yet she found a way to persevere and help others in the process. We jump back and forth between Bosnia in 1995 and the present in Minnesota and slowly learn more about her past and her secrets during the war as she fights to figure out who unalived her best friend.

There's a few twists and turns along the way and I loved how it all went down. Especially with Hana (presumably) getting her happily ever after. The Quiet Librarian has soared to the top of my list for favorite book of the month for sure.

Back in 2014, I read The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, at that time an author I’d never heard of. I loved it! But for some reason, I didn’t read anything else by Eskens until 2023, when I read and enjoyed Saving Emma. I also didn’t know that The Life We Bury had been the first in a series, which includes The Shadows We Hide and The Stolen Hours. But when I read that Mr. Eskens was coming out with a new book (The Quiet Librarian) that included a storyline about The Bosnian War of the 1990s, I thought back to how much I loved the way the storyline in The Life We Bury included the way the Vietnam war affected one of the main characters, and thought “I HAVE TO READ THAT BOOK!” I had no clue what “librarian” had to do with anything, but as a retired librarian, the title was a plus for me.

A few things about my experience with the book. For starters, it is WONDERFUL. Also, my knowledge of the war in Bosnia was (and is) unbelievably limited. I had a vague idea it took place during the Clinton administration and that it had some religious component and was in an area where Yugoslavia used to be…and when I write that, my lack of awareness is even more pathetic than I thought.

This is a story with multiple timelines, but it isn’t one of those where you have to stop and think about WHO is this person and WHEN is this happening. It’s really two stories, with two separate timelines. The book begins in present day Minnesota where a woman named Hana Babic just wants to be left alone as she works as a librarian, with a very small circle of friends including her best friend Amina. When Amina is murdered by being thrown off an upper-floor balcony, Hana is determined to find out who was responsible and why. When police contact Hana for help in finding answers, the story really gets rolling.

Hana and Amina had immigrated to the U.S. during the Bosnian War, and each of them had many secrets and memories of horrible trauma. They had experienced (and, in some cases, committed) atrocities and the fallout may have followed them until the present day. As the story goes back and forth from the 1990s until now, secrets are exposed, revealing clearly both the who and why surrounding Amina’s death.

The characters are well-drawn, beginning with the childhood of a schoolgirl in Bosnia: “There were few Muslims in her school and only her in her class, but such things didn’t matter…” . After a horrific experience, things were very black and white for one of the girls: “Turn right and become a refugee. Turn left and be a hunter. Nura turned left.”

By the time I was near the end of the book and the resolution of the mystery, I was buried in the experiences of the girls, and very affected by the comments one makes about the war: “The world doesn’t care…It never cared…The Serbs slaughtered eight thousand men and boys in Srebrenica–took them into the woods and shot them. The men who pulled the triggers will never face justice.” It is so well written and reminded me why I loved the way Mr. Eskens can create characters who become REAL and who the reader truly cares about. With thanks to Mulholland Books and NetGalley, this one is definitely FIVE stars (only because that is the maximum).

After fleeing war-torn Bosnia, Hana Babic sought a fresh start as a librarian in Minnesota, embracing a quiet, new life. But when her best friend is murdered, Hana discovers she cannot escape her past as a military legend, no matter how far she runs.Refusing to sit idly as tragedy strikes, matters into her own hands as she revealed the truth behind her friend’s murder and her own buried history.

THE QUIET LIBRARIAN is a dual-timeline mystery rich with historical insights and brimming with danger around every corner. I couldn’t turn these pages fast enough to uncover the fates of these vividly drawn characters.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-have heard it’s better to be the hunter than the prey
-get drawn into an elaborate revenge plot
-resonate with stories of deep loyalty

RATING: 5/5
PUB DATE: February 18, 2025

Many thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland books for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Allen Eskens has become one of. my favorite authors. I have read all of his series books. The Quiet Librarian is a standalone historical thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat turning the pages. The dual timeline works beautifully as we follow Hana's life as a quiet librarian in present day Minnesota where her best friend has been murdered to war torn Bosnia in the 1990's and her mysterious past. I highly recommend this book as well as his backlist.

Thank you to Net Galley and Mulholland Books for the advanced reader copy.