Dedham Public Library Groups and Clubs: Senior Center Book Group

Book Description:

Paris, 1939. Young, ambitious, and tempestuous, Odile Souchet has it all: Paul, her handsome police officer beau; Margaret, her best friend from England; her adored twin brother Remy; and a dream job at the American Library in Paris, working alongside the library's legendary director, Dorothy Reeder. But when World War II breaks out, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear - including her beloved library. After the invasion, as the Nazis declare a war on words and darkness falls over the City of Light, Odile and her fellow librarians join the Resistance with the best weapons they have: books. They risk their lives again and again to help their fellow Jewish readers. When the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983. Odile's solitary existence in gossipy small-town Montana is unexpectedly interrupted by Lily, her neighbor, a lonely teenager longing for adventure. As Lily uncovers more about Odile's mysterious past, they find they share a love of language, the same longings, the same lethal jealousy. Odile helps Lily navigate the troubled waters of adolescence by always recommending just the right book at the right time, never suspecting that Lily will be the one to help her reckon with her own terrible secret. Based on the true story of the American Library in Paris, The Paris Library explores the geography of resentment, the consequences of terrible choices made, and how extraordinary heroism can be found in the quietest of places.

Possible Discussion Questions:

Questions by Simon & Schuster 

1. Chapter 1 begins with Odile noting that “numbers floated round my head like stars” (p. 1) as she runs through the Dewey Decimal system in her head. What does this opening say about her?

2. When Odile is first introduced as Mrs. Gustafson, Lily notes that she “donned her Sunday best—a pleated skirt and high heels—just to take out the trash. A red belt showed off her waist. Always” (p. 10). What does the red belt represent? And why, at the end of the novel, does she replace “her tatty red belt with a stylish black one” (p. 344)?

3. Miss Reeder “was adamant that there was a place here for everyone” (p. 3) at the Library. How do she and others like Boris and the Countess prove that throughout the Occupation?

4. Odile and Lily come from very different backgrounds, different countries, and different eras. Where do they find common ground?

5. Among the Library’s subscribers and habitués are many fascinating and eccentric characters, such as Professor Cohen and Mr. Pryce-Jones. Who is your favorite, and why?

6. Consider Odile’s Aunt Caroline, and how Caro’s experience informs Odile’s decisions regarding Paul and Buck. Do you believe Odile’s assertion that her mother would “cast me out, just like Aunt Caro” (p. 332)?

7. Why do you think Janet Skeslien Charles decided to interweave Lily’s story, set in Montana in the 1980s, with Odile’s story in Paris during World War II? What do the dual narratives reveal, and how do they reflect on each other?

8. How is Lily’s adolescence in Montana similar to Odile’s own coming-of-age in Paris? How do books and learning the French language serve as a refuge for Lily?

9. Odile refers to Bitsi as her “bookmate” (p. 50) and later reflects on their experiences by noting that “coming face-to-face with Bitsi is like looking in the mirror” (p. 166). How does their friendship develop over the course of the novel?

10. When Professor Cohen finishes her manuscript, she knows she cannot publish it, and she entrusts it to Odile, saying, “Books and ideas are like blood; they need to circulate, and they keep us alive. Without you, I couldn’t have continued this long. You’ve reminded me that there’s good in the world” (p. 240). What does this speech mean to you? Does this serve as greater motivation for Odile to continue her work?

11. Odile discovers the “crow letters,” letters and “denunciations…from black-hearted people who spy on neighbors, colleagues, and friends. Even family members” (p. 283) in her father’s office. Lily, too, finds the letters at Odile’s house. What do these letters, signed by “one who knows,” show? Why do you think the author includes them?

12. Toward the end of the novel, after the Liberation, we see the insidious cycle of violence as Paul and his colleagues attack Margaret, stating, “She wasn’t a woman to them, not anymore. They’d been beaten and humiliated. Now it was their turn to beat, to strike, to slash” (p. 312). How does this event change the course of the novel? How do these men perpetuate the cycle of violence? Would you have reacted as Odile does, or what would you have done differently?

13. At the end of the novel, Odile says that “it seemed that life had offered me an epilogue” (p. 342). How does Lily and Odile’s intergenerational friendship provide them both with a safe place to grow?

Book Description:

Book Description:

An inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science, and personal narrative from a distinguished professor of science and a Native American whose previous book, Gathering Moss, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.

In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as "the younger brothers of creation." As she explores these themes she circles toward a central argument: the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the world. Once we begin to listen for the languages of other beings, we can begin to understand the innumerable life-giving gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks, our care, and our own gifts in return.

Possible Discussion Questions:

Questions by Rouge Reads

1. In the essay “The Gift of Strawberries,” Kimmerer introduces the reader to the notion of the “gift economy.” What are the pros and cons of the gift economy—or, in other words, what do you like or not like about this concept? Do you think you could incorporate the gift economy into your lifestyle? If yes, how would you do this?

2. Kimmerer describes Sweetgrass, “Breathe in its scent... and you start to remember things you didn't know you'd forgotten.” What did this book reinforce for you that you already knew, but had perhaps forgotten?

3. How do the “stories we choose to shape our behaviors” have consequences beyond our own lives?

4. Do you think humans can be raised by nature or plants like Kimmerer says she was “in a way raised by strawberries?”

5. Berries are the fruit of summer; nuts are the fruit of winter. Does knowing this change how you will eat in the future? How do you think our consumer culture of having everything available all the time instead of harvesting based on the season has impacted nature and our health?

6. A major theme throughout the book is reciprocity—that humans, the land, and environment depend on each other—and this relationship is sacred. What aspects of your life embrace this theme?

7. Living in the United States we are deeply rooted in Capitalism. Do you think we might be able to change our culture to become more gift oriented? If so, how could we start?

8. What do you think of Kimmerer’s observation that English is a noun-based language versus the verb based language of the Potawatomi?

9. Kimmerer explains her thoughts on the nature of animate and inanimate things in “Learning the Grammar of Animacy.” What was your reaction to this viewpoint that everything is alive? Even if you don’t agree, does this idea change how you think about the role plants play in our everyday lives?

10. In “Epiphany in the Beans,” Kimmerer speaks to having a “sense of place,” a place where you feel nurtured and supported. If you have a place where you feel “a sense of place,” where is it and why do you feel that way when you are there?

11. If you are a mother or a father, how did you or how will you commemorate your child leaving the nest? Will you celebrate or grieve?

12. In “The Three Sisters,” the story is about how corn, squash, and beans flourish better when they are planted together. How do you look at agricultural methods used by large scale farmers in comparison to traditional native gardening techniques differently after reading this essay? If you have a vegetable garden, will you do anything differently after reading this book?

13. Why is the world beautiful?

14. "…the most important things each of us can know is our unique gift and how to use it in the world.” How do you feel about this message? Do you know what your unique gift is? How does this individuality fit in a culture that emphasizes the group not the individual?

15. Are there practical insights from this book that you would like to incorporate into your daily life? What resonated the most with you? E.g., gift economy, reciprocity, gratitude, ceremony of the mundane to the sacred, etc.?