Skip to main content
  Log In
Menu
Displaying 1 of 1
Miss Morgan's Book Brigade
Click for more information  Ebook
2024
Google Books Preview
Add to My List  
First Chapter or Excerpt
Prologue PROLOGUE You can learn a lot about a life by looking in someone's closet. I stand before mine, pondering which outfit to wear tonight, and thumb through fitted cardigans and slacks, remnants of a long career. Cramped to the side are relics of a past life: the witch's hat and smock that pupils begged me to wear each Halloween; a wedding gown that didn't quite make it to the altar; and the uniform of the American Committee for Devastated France--horizon blue, the same color that the French army wore. I can't help but touch the hem of the skirt. Seventy years old, and the wool blend, warm and light, still embodies the quality that Paris is famous for. The stories this cloth could tell... the fabric of life during the Great War. It had seen love and hate, sacrifice and stinginess, longing and hope, despair and courage. Always courage. My fingers continue along the sleeve, to the rust-colored stain on the cuff. No matter how we washed it--dabbed with seltzer water, soaked in iodine, scrubbed with Marseille soap--his blood wouldn't come out. No matter. The material is nearly dark enough to conceal it, and the discoloration can be attributed to a splatter of ratatouille. To free the uniform, I seize the shoulders and pull, allowing myself to cradle the jacket as if it were a woman I could embrace. Something digs into my chest. On the lapel, a medal hangs from a blue-and-white striped ribbon. The silver has tarnished, but I can make out the griffin, the symbol of the Cards. On the reverse is engraved DO RIGHT AND FEAR NO MAN. If I don the uniform, would it fit? Only one way to find out. Yes, the jacket is elegant over my blouse. Encouraged, I shimmy out of my slacks, only to find that the skirt bites at the waist. Still, it feels right, as if the uniform wants to be worn. The final touch is the handkerchief, its cloth worn thin by time. I slide it into my pocket. I glance at my watch. Nearly 7:00 p.m. The decision of what to wear has been made--if I don't leave now, I'll be late. I rush from the apartment, up Fifth Avenue, to the New York Public Library. Shoulders squared, I march up the steps like I have thousands of times before. Upon my arrival in Manhattan, this was my school, my social life, my home. In the hall, my fingertips trace scuff marks along the walls. Some may see imperfections, but I remember crates being delivered, a runaway book cart crashing down the staircase, and apprentices like me accidentally smudging the white paint with blotter ink that clung to our skin like perfume. The past presses on me, memories fill the air. I clutch the handkerchief and know that now, finally, it's time. Excerpted from Miss Morgan's Book Brigade: A Novel by Janet Skeslien Charles All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Large Cover Image
Trade Reviews
Library Journal Review
Charles (The Paris Library) bases her new historical novel on the true story of Jessie "Kit" Carson, who joined the American Committee for Devastated France (Le Commité américain pour les regions dévastées de France, or CARD) during World War I. Through Kit's story, Charles highlights the efforts of a courageous group of American women working on the wars front lines in France and providing emergency relief to civilians in the devastated areas. Kit, a children's librarian, has taken a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to come to France to organize and run a library near the front lines that she hopes will bring the region's children joy through books. Kit goes on to turn ambulances into bookmobiles, train those who would be the first French women to become librarians, and form lifelong friendships while also overcoming past insecurities, all against the backdrop of an impending German offensive. Told from the alternating perspectives of Kit and Wendy Peterson, a writer and NYPL employee researching the CARD organization in the 1980s, the novel brings to light the work of librarians whose valiant efforts helped French citizens during the war. VERDICT A compelling remembrance of real librarians who could very easily have been lost to history. Readers who like historical novels with strong women characters will enjoy.--Lucinda Ward
Publishers Weekly Review
Charles (The Paris Library) follows up her bestselling debut with a dramatic story of war and literature in WWI France. In January 1918, Jessie Carson, a librarian for the New York Public Library, accepts an invitation from Anne Morgan, the daughter of J.P. Morgan and founder of the American Committee for Devastated France ("CARD," after the French name), to help establish a library for civilians living near the front lines in northern France. Overcoming worries that she won't be up to the task, Jessie devotes herself to distributing books, especially to local children. A parallel narrative set in 1987 follows aspiring author Wendy Peterson, whose day job involves scanning old documents into the NYPL's microfiche system. When Wendy comes across a box of CARD records, she's instantly intrigued by the women who volunteered for the organization and determines to tell their story. Wendy's interest is especially piqued by Jessie, as it's clear from the records that she didn't return to the NYPL after the war. Charles packs Jessie's story with emotion, particularly in scenes where the librarian shares a French copy of her beloved Anne of Green Gables with a French girl, and when she takes comfort in her own love of reading during moments of despair. Bibliophiles are in for a treat. Agent: Heather Jackson, Heather Jackson Literary. (Apr.)
Booklist Review
Charles follows up The Paris Library (2020) by returning to France, this time at the end of World War I. When librarian Jessie Carson goes to work for the American Committee for Devastated France (CARD) in 1918, she thinks she's going to be providing books to weary civilians traumatized by war. She soon finds herself doing far more--delivering food, driving ambulances, picking her way across minefields, and forging connections with courageous locals. In a parallel narrative, set in 1980s New York City, twentysomething Wendy spends her days in the basement of the public library digitizing documents, an outsider dreaming of becoming a novelist. Inspiration is in short supply until the day she comes across the historical records of Jessie Carson and CARD. What starts as a moment of curiosity soon has Wendy coming out of her shell and finding her writer's voice. The author's fictionalized depiction of historical figure Jessie Carson sensitively imagines her motivations and explores the concepts of grief and trauma, resulting in an inspiring novel that celebrates resiliency, community, and connection.
Summary
From the New York Times bestselling author Janet Skeslien Charles and based on the true story of Jessie Carson--the American librarian who changed the literary landscape of France--this is "a moving tale of sacrifice, heroism, and inspired storytelling immersed in the power of books to change our lives" (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author).

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 destroyed 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.

Based on the extraordinary little-known history of the women who received the Croix de Guerre medal for courage under fire, Miss Morgan's Book Brigade is a "rich, glorious, life-affirming tribute to literature and female solidarity. Simply unforgettable" (Kate Thompson, author of The Wartime Book Club ).
Librarian's View
Displaying 1 of 1