"A powerful historical novel that charts the lives of two NYPL librarians across the barrier of decades, based on the true story of American women volunteer librarians during WWI. 1918. As WWI rages, northern France is a battlefield. Librarian Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library in order to volunteer for the American Committee for Devastated France, a group of international women helping rebuild French communities who have lost everything. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles, creates libraries, and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears. 1987. NYPL librarian and aspiring writer Wendy Peterson stumbles across a mention of Jessie Carson in the archives and becomes consumed with learning her fate. Fixation is nothing new to Wendy. She’s obsessed with Roberto, her handsome coworker. She worries about her best friend, Leigh, who grows more and more distant. Wendy soon learns that she and Jessie Carson have more in common than their work at the New York Public Library, and their paths will converge in surprising ways across time. With a dazzling cast of real-life characters, The Librarian of Lost Stories highlights themes of resilience, friendship, and community. Once again, Janet Skeslien Charles brings history alive with this meticulously researched, little-known story of incredible women who face the danger of war to share their love of literature and their belief in books as bridges."-- Provided by publisher.