The Librarian of Burned Books

The Librarian of Burned Books is a gripping WWII tale about the connected fortunes of three women who trust in the power of books to triumph over the worst periods of war, perfect for lovers of The Rose Code and The Paris Library.

1933 in Berlin. After her first book became well-known, Joseph Goebbels personally extends an offer to American author Althea James to take part in a cultural exchange program in Germany. 1933 Berlin seems dazzlingly cosmopolitan to a girl from a little Maine town, blooming in the middle of a major transition under the charismatic new chancellor. After meeting a stunning lady who assures her she would show her the true Berlin, Althea finds herself enmeshed in a resistance organization that challenges her perceptions of both her hosts and herself.

Paris, 1936. Hannah Brecht finds that even though she fled Berlin for Paris, the City of Light cannot protect her from the anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathizers she believed to be behind. Hannah immerses herself in her job at the German Library of Burned Books, disturbed and heartbroken by her part in the treachery that brought her family to ruin. She feels she can atone for her faults and stem the tide of fascism she sees growing across Europe via the silent power of literature. Hannah, however, has to choose which tales she is ready to live for—or die for—after a close friend declares that deeds speak louder than words.

1944 in New York. Vivian Childs has been fighting her own battle ever since her husband Edward was murdered battling the Nazis. She stopped a prominent senator from trying to censor the military paperbacks known as Armed Service Editions, which are sent to troops in other countries in large quantities. Through her letters, notably the most recent one she received from Edward, Viv learns how much the guys value them. She also understands that the only way she can win this struggle is to refute the senator's propaganda with a narrative of her own, in which the enigmatic and reclusive lady caring for the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books in Brooklyn plays a major role.

These three women's lives will intersect and permanently alter when Viv unintentionally takes her censorship battle crashing into the previous secrets.

A remarkable historical novel, eerie love story, and ode to the beauty, strength, and goodness of the written word, The Librarian of Burned Books was inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime, the WWII organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, and authors to use books as "weapons in the war of ideas."