Hattush's Reviews > The Librarian of Saint-Malo

I rarely read historical fiction because I prefer to just read memoirs or biographies on that time period. I came across this book as part of a reading challenge (thank you, Kaley!) and decided to try it.
I’m so glad I did.
I fell absolutely, heartbreakingly in love with this beautiful story.

*spoilers ahead, read with caution*
Written in letters to author Marcel Zola, Joceyln tells of her life in Saint Malo, France during WWII. Her life has been one loss after another: first her parents, then her health, then her husband and finally her beloved books.

“Sometimes everything has to come crashing down for us to understand what we have built our lives upon.”

Joceyln was an intriguing character. The thing I admired most about her was her loyalty to her husband. He was drafted to fight against Germany and ended up in a concentration camp. Everyone encouraged her to abandon him, to think him dead and move on with her life. A kind German officer would have married her and made her life much easier. But she waited, she set aside her feelings of the moment and chose her husband. He returned, sick and broken and not the same man as before. Still, she remained by his side, comforting, healing and giving her heart to him until he died – and even after he was dead. Such devotion is rarely seen in books, and I admire it so much.

“You fail to understand women, Lt. Bauman. We are not moved by ideals—that is a banal game ever played by men. We’re driven by something much deeper that really makes the world turn: affections. This is something you’ll never understand. We endure pain better than men can, we sacrifice ourselves for the ones we love, we give our lives for our children—but none of that is driven by our ideals. We are driven by love.”

The ending incredible…I was so crushed by it. I never could have imagined that it would end the way it did. I’ve already given too many spoilers in this review, so I won’t say anything else except that the end was a masterpiece that shattered my heart into a million pieces. It was so tragic and so right for the story.

This is one of the best fiction books that I have read this year. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning about WWII.

CW: death, rape attempt