Janet Skeslien Charles is an author I have come across on multiple book blogs. I thought I didn’t any of her books to my TBR, but to my surprise, I did! And now, I thought this would be a good time picking it up, after too many dragons and fantasy. The book I’m talking about has two titles, but I’ll go with Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade as that is the most common one. It’s historical fiction with a dual timeline, something I usually enjoy. Was this the case again?

About the book

Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles
Published by Atria Books on April 30, 2024
Pages: 318
Genres: Adult, General fiction, Historical fiction

The New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the “captivating, richly drawn” ( Woman’s World ) The Paris Library returns with a brilliant new novel based on the true story of Jessie Carson—the American librarian who changed the literary landscape of France.

1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan, this group of international women help rebuild devastated French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.

1987: When NYPL librarian and aspiring writer Wendy Peterson stumbles across a passing reference to Jessie Carson in the archives, she becomes consumed with learning her fate. In her obsessive research, she discovers that she and the elusive librarian have more in common than their work at New York’s famed library, but she has no idea their paths will converge in surprising ways across time.

My review

Since I had no real clue that I had this book on my TBR, I really didn’t have any expectations. In fact, I didn’t even check the synopsis to refresh my memory before I started reading. I therefore was a bit confused. However, I expected to be interested in this novel since I enjoy dual timeline narratives. Furthermore, this novel is set in 1918 France, a time period in history I never read about before. I obviously expected to enjoy the past timeline more than the present day one, no surprises here. Well, most of this came true.

This story is alternately told from Jessie Kit Carson in 1918 France and Wendy Peterson in 1987 New York. Their lives couldn’t be more different yet so similar. Wendy is an aspiring writer and hopes to be a published author one day. Kit decides to work in France, close to the battle front of the First World War in 1918 where she wants to rebuild the library to provide people their needed escape through books. Both Wendy and Kit are librarians in the New York Public Library and have a strong passion for literature. One day, Wendy stumbles upon old documents of the CARDs, the organization of American women who volunteer in the French villages close to the war front. She’s intrigued by Kit’s story and wants to find out all about it. Through Wendy’s research, we as readers learn more about their work and how live was at the time. There was not just WOI, but also the Spanish Flue.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t fond of Wendy’s character. She didn’t add much to the plot. She feels like a filler character to me. I was much more interested in Kit and her fellow volunteers as they actually have a story to tell. We get to know them much better than Wendy, she has not much to say I believe. I found Kit to be written better. She has to deal with a lot of traumatic experiences during her mission, but she also meets the fiercest people I’ve ever encountered. Many of them lost everything, including their will to live. Kit and her colleagues helped them navigate their loss and in the end most of them find their will to live again. Marcelle, Sidonie and Jeanne were the most elaborated and interesting characters whereas I can’t remember any interesting characters from the present day timeline.

The writing is indulging, although I had a rough start. I found the book moving pretty slowly at first, but once I was sucked into the story, I barely was able to stop reading. I was hungry for more, I wanted to learn more about this time period in history. I simply couldn’t wait till we got back to Kit, this timeline was – unsurprisingly to me – the most intriguing. These chapters are quite long, but I don’t really mind. These chapters were crafted really well. Skeslien Charles states in the author’s note that a lot of research has been done for this novel, and it shows. All characters – Wendy excepted – really have lived and accomplished what they did in the novel. However, the author allowed herself some artistic freedom, but that doesn’t take away from the intrigue. I was glad however that Wendy’s chapters were quite short as they felt more like feeling material to me.

As you may have guessed, Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles was a real surprise to me. I went into this reading experience blindly and had a rough start but in the end, I was intrigued. Especially by the timeline in 1918, the 1987 one really feels like a filler to me. If you’re able to keep this in mind without being annoyed, I strongly recommend this book as it sheds some light on a lesser-known time period in history. At least, it does for me.