The Collector of Burned Books book review: a literary treasure amidst history’s darkest hours

What’s more compelling? Secrets or spies? The Collector of Burned Books (affiliate link) has both, without the main characters fully understanding how deep they’re getting into danger. Sure, Corinne Bastien knew that when she agreed to help her Oncle Georges gather information about German troop movements around France—especially Paris—that she was dipping her toe into the spy game, which always comes with tongue-binding secrets. And Christian Bauer accepted that he would have to turn his secrets into silence, but he wasn’t planning to join the ranks of the very government that he despises. Now, they’re both walking the tightrope of life under a regime of hatred, and one wrong step … well, you get the picture.

I loved how this story pulled in historically significant information about so many aspects of World War II. Did you know there were Germans who were forced to serve the Nazis? One of the hardest things after the war was working out who worshiped the Third Reich, who supported Germany because they were German, and who tried to prevent tragedies but had to hide among the enemy to do so. Definitely not a task I would have wanted. In The Collector of Burned Books, Roseanna M. White creates a German professor who wants the freedom to share fiction and nonfiction books, without a prejudice government dictating what he’s allowed to think. The totalitarianism pouring out of Nazi Germany infects his students, and he feels powerless to stop the fires that spread across the country and through each seduced heart. Yet, even when he loses everyone that he loves, he continues to speak out against the government. Which is why he’s shocked to have been forced into a Nazi army uniform and sent to occupied Paris to retrieve, filter, and destroy books from everything library in the city. He couldn’t refuse them—he wasn’t asked to serve, just dictated—so he can only wonder if God placed him there to preserve some of what is being destroyed. To his shock, this includes lives of friends—ones he can’t claim to know or care about. His position gives him a rare opportunity to save people who might otherwise be sent to prisons or camps, but the weight of the secrets weighs heavier with each day that passes. Yet, ever the professor, he doesn’t pass up a chance to teach his assistant about the value of learning, even about your enemy.

Corrine Bastien hates the Germans with such a passion that it nearly takes her life in her first interactions with them. She’s not as skilled at hiding her feeling as her uncle, but she’s forced to learn fast when Nazi officers start attending her lectures at the university. As a woman, she can’t hope to retain her position on the staff for long, but she refuses to cower before the enemy, which endangers everything else that she’s doing. Oncle Georges warned her what was coming; his foresight even led him to teach her how to gather information about their enemies so that he could pass it along to England. Now, she’s right in the middle of a resistance ring, and everything goes wrong when precious library—housing many of the books she’s using to communicate with her informants—is taken over by the enemy. If this new officer finds even one book, will he make a connection to her?

When two sides who shouldn’t connect must work together to protect a life, can Corrine and Christian see past their differences?

I love the way Roseanna M. White develops this plot. Reading about the history of France during World War II, I’ve learned about so many people who had to wear masks to hide their true beliefs, and it wore on them in a rough way. Constantly hiding yourself behind ideas that you adamantly stand against wears down the body, mind, and soul. She captured this well in her characters struggles to live under Nazi pressure. The Collector of Burned Books captures so much more than just a plot of maybes in historical Paris. Through this story, you can glimpse the harsh struggles faced by so many different people, and you get the backdrop of 1940s Paris. I won’t spoil the historical note at the end that gives a bit of background about the real Library of Burned Books. Take a look and see what you think about this captivating story. Let me know in the comments.

What genre is The Collector of Burned Books?

The Collector of Burned Books is a historical romance set during World War II France.

Does The Collector of Burned Books include any questionable or difficult content?

This story is told during Europe’s dark history of the 1930s and 1940s. Even though wars often produce heroic stories, they always include horiffic tales too. Roseanna M. White manages to keep true to the harsh reality of war without displaying the full weight of gore and destruction. However, there is one set of scenes that has more blood and pain than the rest of the story. She still tried to keep it minor, but since this is intrical to the plot, it’s an intense section of the book.