The War Librarian

By: Addison Armstrong

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Lauren Ezzo

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

The Paris Library meets The Flight Girls in this captivating historical novel about the sacrifice and courage necessary to live a life of honor, inspired by the first female volunteer librarians during World War I and the first women accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy.

Two women. One secret. A truth worth fighting for.

1918. Timid and shy Emmaline Balakin lives more in books than her own life. That is, until an envelope crosses her desk at the Dead Letter Office bearing a name from her past, and Emmaline decides to finally embark on an adventure of her own—as a volunteer librarian on the frontlines in France. But when a romance blooms as she secretly participates in a book club for censored books, Emmaline will need to find more courage within herself than she ever thought possible in order to survive.

1976. Kathleen Carre is eager to prove to herself and to her nana that she deserves her acceptance into the first coed class at the United States Naval Academy. But not everyone wants female midshipmen at the Academy, and after tragedy strikes close to home, Kathleen becomes a target. To protect herself, Kathleen must learn to trust others even as she discovers a secret that could be her undoing.

©2022 Addison Armstrong (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of Life Savvy’s 22 Books to Beat the Heat This August

"Shining light upon the work of the original war librarians, Addison Armstrong not only offers a tribute to the power of books and libraries, but also manifests the unconventional lives of two women separated by fifty years, both determined to defy society’s limitations and forge futures that break the mold. Emmaline and Kathleen stand as worthy testimony to all the women who have blazed trails where none existed before." —Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends

“The War Librarian is a compelling and inspiring tribute to the courageous, groundbreaking women who risked their lives to pursue their heart’s desire even when—especially when—their ambitions led them into places where women were at best unexpected, and at worst, fiercely opposed.” —Jennifer Chiaverini, author of The Women’s March

"If one can measure a novel's success by the emotions it draws from readers, the sophomore work by Armstrong is very effective indeed. Romance and long-held secrets provide additional intrigue in this increasingly powerful story. The values of intellectual freedom, antiracist activism, and female friendship are illustrated within their historical contexts, yet these themes couldn't be timelier." —Booklist

Great book

Fascinating book! I couldn’t put it down. Very compelling story of two different eras and the part they played in the position women have played in their own advancement

Don’t give up!

Some have said it’s overly dramatic and so they gave up. It does seem a like that at first, but the story becomes more and more compelling.

Suffered Through It

The vocals were horrendous and the story weak and overly dramatic. I had to read it for Bookclub and lost hours of my life with it. Love historical fiction but this was awful. Sorry, just not worth a minute.

I will never know.

The narrator Kauren Ezzo drove me up a wall. Asking to return the book after ten minutes of that hyped up narration.

I couldn’t finish

This is my favorite genre, but I couldn’t get through this. Didn’t care much about the two female characters, their stories didn’t come together, and I gave up.