Historical Fiction with Libraries!

 Happy National Library Week!  Here are some historical fiction books which feature libraries and librarians.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict is a novel based on the life of Belle de Costa Greene who was hired to curate J.P. Morgan’s collection of rare books and manuscripts, making her a powerful woman—and one with a secret.        

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richards is a staff favorite!  A last-of-her-kind outcast and member of the Pack Horse Library Project braves the hardships of Kentucky's Great Depression and hostile community discrimination to bring the near-magical perspectives of books to her neighbors. There is a sequel, The Book Woman’s Daughter.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslein Charles is based on a true story of how a lonely, 1980s teenager befriends an elderly neighbor and uncovers her past as a librarian at the American Library in Paris who joined the Resistance when the Nazis arrived.

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan When the Blitz destroys Bethnal Green Library in London, librarian Juliet Lansdown, along with two other women, relocates the stacks to the local Underground station where the city's residents shelter nightly, determined to lend out stories that will keep spirits up, but soon tragedy after tragedy threatens to destroy what they've built.