Narrated by Marin Ireland, Sarah Gadon, Jackie Sanders, Cassandra Campbell
Atria Books / Simon & Schuster Audio
331 pages / 9 hours, 31 minutes
Publication Date: April 30, 2024
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HALL WAYS HYBRID-FORMAT REVIEW (eBook, hardcover, audiobook): In 2023 sometime (it's all a blur), I remember being so excited to hear about Janet Skeslien Charles's forthcoming THE LIBRARIANS OF RUE DE PICARDIE. I absolutely adored THE PARIS LIBRARY, and from the sound of it, this next book would also include many of my favorite ingredients, namely books, libraries & librarians, and France & French language elements. Add to the mix strong and intelligent women characters who bust out glass ceilings to get things done, and SCORE! MAGNIFIQUE! MISS MORGAN'S BOOK BRIGADE (which is what the title ended up being on US copies) checks all my boxes with the bonus of the characters and actions being based on real people and the nearly unimaginable things they accomplished during WWI.
In my review of THE PARIS LIBRARY, I noted that the book was a reminder that there were many unsung heroes and heroines doing extraordinary things and making extraordinary sacrifices during World War II. The same holds true for MISS MORGAN'S BOOK BRIGADE, but it enlightened me to a completely unknown-to-me chapter of World War I. I learned so much about the roles served in France by women from all different countries during the war and about some French history I hadn't learned in my many years of French coursework. Several of the things I read about prompted me to learn more (including about CARD, JP Morgan's daughter Anne, and France's Zone Rouge), and I think that's always the mark of great historical fiction: make me want to learn more.
There is a wide cast of characters in MISS MORGAN'S BOOK BRIGADE, and each of the two timelines have more than one storyline happening. It's a lot, and given the length of the book, there just wasn't time to fully flesh out them all. I enjoyed the dual storylines and points-of-view and how parallels in the lives of Kit and Wendy, some eighty years apart, are revealed. The author does a terrific job of connecting their paths and wrapping up the loose ends, though I was left wanting a bit more about a couple of the main threads.
And HOLY COW. Kit's Readers' Advisory and books she handed out in 1918 are still some of the best, must-read titles of all time (and a nod to the author's librarian skilz). Included were so many beloved titles that I've read, recommended, or still have on my TBR. I really wish I had started writing a list of them as they popped up in the book. Maybe another reader has compiled one? Or perhaps, when I re-read/re-listen, I will make the list myself! (Because retired! And because I can't remember diddly squat. Please don't ask me to tell you any of them.)
I was certain I would like this book, and once I started reading it on NetGalley just before it published, the day it published, I not only bought it in hardcover (from BookPeople in Austin), but also as an audiobook, and those are the formats I primarily used. I'm very glad that I indulged in buying both because it allowed me to go back and forth between formats so I could keep reading -- but with my ears -- when I had other tasks to take care of while wearing my domestic goddess hat (that old chestnut).
I ended up finishing the book -- I thought -- with the audio version, but I wanted to double check something and picked up the hardcover copy to find it. And it's a good thing I did! The print version has an Author's Notes section that is twelve FASCINATING pages long; had I only had the audiobook, I would have missed it entirely. The author's thorough and thoughtful research is even more apparent after reading this section, and it also brought Charles's personality and passion to the page. She's my favorite Francophilian & bibliophilian (I might have created those words just now?) author, and I'm thrilled there's a third book planned in her library trilogy. *grabby hands*
ABOUT THE AUDIOBOOK: There were four narrators, and unfortunately, I don't know which was which! All of them had great pacing, and each character had a distinct voice. Naturally, I really enjoyed the characters who spoke with French accents, and in both the print and audio, I LOVED, LOVED the inclusion of French words and phrases (a nod to the author's French skilz). However, in the audiobook, it was disappointing to hear mispronunciations of French words by characters who were supposed to be fluent/well-schooled in French. And there were some peculiar and clunky English pronunciations scattered in the mix as well. So the audio left a bit to be desired, and the narration faux pas in addition to the omission of the Author's Notes section lead me to recommend reading with your eyes, not your ears, malheureusement.
Overall, reading MISS MORGAN'S BOOK BRIGADE was time very well-spent between the pages, and I anxiously await whatever's next from Janet Skeslien Charles. Her writing is pure gold.
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