I was sent an invite by Atria Books to read and review “The Parisian Chapter” and was delighted to accept the offer. A big thank you to Atria Books.

Lately, I have been busy with in-depth studies, and I definitely could mix things up a bit, and this book is just the ticket.

I love the idea of exploring a library’s attic that holds hundreds of unpublished manuscripts or finding a box of archives that takes one to the past. How mysterious and intriguing for such discoveries.

By the way, I highly recommend reading Janet Skeslien Charles’s book “The Paris Library.”

Stephanie

Pub Date: May 5, 2026 by Atria Books

240 pages

Description

Paris, 1995: It’s been five years since Lily Jacobsen and her best friend Mary Louise arrived in Paris from their small town of Froid, Montana. Determined to establish themselves as artists—Lily, a novelist, and Mary Louise, a painter—they share a tiny walkup and survive on brie and baguettes.

When Mary Louise abruptly moves out, Lily feels alone in the city of light for the first time and must find a new way to support herself. She lands a job as a programs manager at the American Library in Paris, following in the footsteps of Odile, her beloved French neighbor in Montana who told her stories of heroic World War II librarians when Lily was growing up.

Here in the storied halls of the ALP, she meets an incredible cast of characters—her favorite author, quirky coworkers, broke students, trailing spouses, haughty trustees, and devoted volunteers—each with their own stories… and agendas. Lily often seeks solace in the Afterlife, the library’s attic that’s home to hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, and there, she discovers a box of archives that may be a link to the past: to Odile’s own Parisian chapter.