Janet Skeslien Charles is the award-winning author of Moonlight in Odessa, The Paris Library and Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade. Moonlight in Odessa is her first novel. It was chosen as a top ten debut novel by Publishers Weekly and as book of the month by National Geographic Traveler magazine.
Janet first became interested in the incredible true story of the librarians who stood up to the Nazi “Book Protector” when she worked as the program’s manager at the American Library in Paris. Her novel The Paris Library was an instant New York Times Best Seller and named Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Library Journal and Goodreads.
The wit, empathy, and meticulous research that brings The Paris Library to life also brings to light a cast of lively real-life characters and a little-known chapter of World War II history: the story of the American librarian, Miss Reeder, who created the Soldiers’ Service to deliver books to servicemen, and who later faced the Nazi ‘Library Protector’ in order to keep her library open. She and her colleagues defied the Bibliotheksschutz by delivering books to Jewish readers after they were forbidden from entering the library.
Her newest novel, Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade (April 2024) is based on the extraordinary little-known history of the women who received the Croix de Guerre m medal for courage under fire and is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, the power of literature, and ultimately the courage it takes to make a change.
Her shorter work has appeared in revues such as Slice and Montana Noir. She divides her time between Montana and Paris.