Library of Forbidden Books by Mario Escobar ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

In a world of burning books, one woman will risk everything to keep stories alive.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

September 2026; Thomas Nelson; 978-1400355822
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); historical fiction

Library of Forbidden Books is based loosely on true events and a real person, but it is also largely fiction. I read a lot of biographical fiction, which is what I was hoping this would be. It is still a great story, but a lot of it is made up.

I don't mind when an author takes creative license when writing a fictional book about real events and real people, but Mario Escobar's book has a lot of fabrication. And some of it didn't feel realistic.

Rudolf Kummer, a German Nazi who is in charge of the national library, seems to take particular dislike to the main character, Helene Nathan. Helene is half-Jewish and is largely apolitical. There is a chance meeting in the hallway of the ministry right after she has snuck into his office to photograph a list of librarian that are to be dismissed. A general dislike, or even hatred, of her would be understandable after this brief encounter (there is no evidence that he knew she had been in his office), based just on her heritage and the work she does in the community. Yet, Kummer seems dead set on destroying her. It is as if she has personally offended him. Given that his final scene is purely Escobar's imagination, it just feels unrealistic and over-the-top. There were so many atrocities during WWII that a more realistic danger could have been used.

Now, Mr. Fusch's hatred of Helene felt totally believable. He was a communist until the Nazi's came to power. He is totally a small man (I don't mean in height) who will grasp power however he can and use the little power he finds to make himself feel more powerful by turning on those he thinks are beneath him. Helene rebuffed his efforts to bring her to the communist side and her distaste for his bullying ways/ This put her squarely in his crosshairs, and as soon as he has a little power, he uses it against her.

I was emotionally invested in this story, especially her relationship with her fiance/husband and their children. I stayed up way past my bedtime on a work night because I needed to know how the war turned out for them. So I was a little disappointed to learn they are fictional. 

I love reading biographical fiction because it gives me insights into bits of history that I might never have known, especially the female-centric stories, as they have largely been left out of history. I worry, though, that when so much of the person's life is rewritten, she will be further lost to history. 

The story was compelling and well-written as a fictional story. I just wish Escobar had changed the main character's name like Sadeqa Johnson did in her novel Keeper of Lost Children. Helene would have felt more fictional, and it would have changed how I approached the novel.

Buy Library of Forbidden Books at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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