Merci for subscribing, whether on my website or from my Zoom event at the Carey Library event. I’m grateful for your support! To celebrate my first newsletter, I’m giving away five prints of THE PARIS LIBRARY map by Parisian artist Sonja Bajic. Winner will be announced in next month’s newsletter.
Here we are together at Café Singuliers. (Note: I haven’t mastered the art of the selfie, but I try! ;-)
Today, I’m excited to share a little about my forthcoming novel, MISS MORGAN’S BOOK BRIGADE (in the UK, the title is THE LIBRARIANS OF RUE DE PICARDIE).
While researching THE PARIS LIBRARY, I discovered another incredible librarian who’d travelled to France on her own. Like the directress Dorothy Reeder, my new heroine Jessie Carson believed in books as bridges.
Set in World War I France, Jessie prefers working in a war zone to life with her boss in New York. The only way she can afford to travel to Europe is if she can find a job to pay her passage. When the American Committee for Devastated France hires her, Jessie is on her way.
In northern France, she turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears. I was dying to know what happened to her. I hope you’ll enjoy tracking down this elusive librarian as much as I did.
What you can expect from the story:
-A celebration strong women breaking down barriers
-Lifelong friendships
-A wise dog named Max🐕
-History brought to life
-A return to the bodacious 1980s
-The comfort of books📚
-A trip to Paris
-Characters that feel like friends
I’ll be on tour from April 30 to May 9, and hope to see you on the road!
This is National Library Week, so I want to give a shout-out to my favorite, the Toole County Library in Shelby, Montana, where Heidi Alford works tirelessly to ensure access for all. Like many of us, a big part of my love of reading and writing comes from libraries.
I plan to post once a month about books and newsletters I’m loving, places I am visiting, and behind-the-scenes moments of writing and research at home. I hope that you will enjoy receiving my newsletter! Thank you again for subscribing.
My best,
Janet
PS Stay tuned for the map of MISS MORGAN’S BOOK BRIGADE giveaway!
Ahhh love our photo and I am excited about all this! Thanks for inviting me to tell the stories about your books through my maps 🤗
Congratulations on your new Substack! I look forward to reading many more posts as well as your new book! Very best wishes!