The Keeper of Hidden Books

Zofia, Janina, Danuta, and Kasia are assigned to Darek’s company in the Parasol Battalion. Zofia reflects that many of the fighters are very young. Citizens gather to send the fighters off, and there is a jovial atmosphere despite the danger that lies ahead. Darek leads their group into Warsaw’s Old Town, where they will be stationed. There aren’t enough guns for everyone, so the company breaks into pairs, with one gun for each pair. Zofia and Janina are partners. While Janina and Zofia watch the street from an upstairs window, Janina tries to prepare her friend, telling her that being a combatant in a war zone is more terrifying than Zofia can imagine. They vow to stick together. They spot German soldiers and Janina fires, killing one. The Germans return fire but don’t hit either woman. As the two friends retreat downstairs, they see that another member of their group has been shot and killed. Eventually, the Germans pull back, and the Home Army fighters have a chance to rest. Over dinner, Zofia tries to comfort Darek, who, as the leader of their group, feels responsible for the death of the young fighter.

The Soviet Union forces are across the river from Warsaw, near enough to offer aid, but contrary to everyone’s expectations, they don’t advance across the river to help. Zofia begins to doubt whether the resistance will receive the aid they need. They have been awake for more than 48 hours when Zofia is shot during her turn with the rifle. Kasia, acting as the group’s field medic, determines that the wound needs serious care. Darek sends Zofia to the makeshift hospital a few blocks away and asks Janina and Danuta to go with her. They are angry to be sent away from the fighting and know that Darek is sending them away to try to protect them. Before Zofia and the others leave, Darek and Zofia share their first kiss. Zofia tells him that she wishes they had started dating years ago.

Zofia passes out upon arrival at the hospital. When she awakens later, the fighting has worsened in Old Town, where their group is stationed. Kasia and Danuta decide to work at the hospital rather than return to the fight because Kasia's medical skills are desperately needed. Danuta reads aloud to the patients. A mail system run by the Boy Scouts allows Zofia can exchange a letter or two with Matka while she is recovering in the hospital; all is well at the library. The Parasol Battalion takes control of Krasinski Palace, a large and historic government building. Janina and Zofia relocate from the hospital to the Palace and assist with providing food and bedding for fighters. Combat remains heavy in Old Town, and Zofia receives news that the area of the city where Krystyna’s company was stationed has been destroyed.

Longing to rejoin Darek and the rest of their company, Zofia and Janina sneak out in the night, defying orders to stay put. They don’t get far before they are stopped by a group of 10 fighters, who are disappointed to learn that Zofia and Janina are not reinforcements for their company. The group has been awake and fighting for four days without rest. Zofia and Janina decide to stay and keep watch while the fighters sleep. In the morning, they advance with this unit into Old Town.

In Old Town the next day, they come across a mixed crowd of civilians and fighters celebrating around a captured German tank. Janina is suspicious when she hears the story of the tank driver’s capture. Fearing that a bomb has been planted in the tank, Janina retreats with Zofia, along with as many people as they can convince from their unit. They are just out of harm’s way when the bomb explodes. Zofia and Janina fight with their new unit, asking after Darek whenever they can. Zofia grows worried as they fail to find news of him. Over the next few days, all but three of their new unit die in combat. One night, the surviving group shelters in an undamaged home, and Zofia sees a copy of a book that Marta Krakowska recommended to her: The Bridge of San Luis Rey. She takes the book. Soon, the unit receives word that they have been ordered back to Krasinski Palace to recover. After a few days, Darek arrives at Krasinski Palace as well, and he and Zofia share a meal. He asks her to dance with him in the garden under the stars. Zofia tries to soak up every moment, knowing that they are all in grave danger.

The next day, Zofia and Janina join Darek again as he leaves the safety of Krasinski Palace, heading back to Old Town to defend the final street from being retaken by the Nazis. The fighting is heavy and fierce, and a member of their unit dies almost immediately after they reenter Old Town. That night, Zofia is unable to sleep; the Germans are so close that she can hear them moving around. The next morning, they encounter a remote-controlled tank called a “Goliath,” which sets off a massive explosion; the street is filled with shards of brick, along with bullets from German soldiers. Janina is shot in the hand. Darek directs Zofia and Janina to run to the next street where fighters are escaping through a sewer. He tells them to find her mother and go to Ella’s in the country until the Soviets have defeated the Germans. Sacrificing himself for their safety, Darek tells Zofia that he loves her and then rushes around the corner to fend off the oncoming soldiers.

Zofia and Janina rush to the sewer. Zofia instructs Janina to keep a hand on her shoulder as they shuffle painstakingly forward with the other fighters. Eventually, they climb from the sewer into a portion of the city near the main library. Zofia rushes Janina to a nearby hospital so that she can undergo surgery. Zofia is amazed when the nurse tells her that their surgeon trained under her father. After a few days of recovery, Zofia tells Janina that they need to leave and follow Darek’s instructions. Janina wants to go back to Old Town; still bent on her mission of revenge, she doesn’t understand that there is no fight to go back to, as the insurgents were defeated in Old Town.

At the library, Zofia and Janina find Matka and Miss Laska. Some library staff were killed protecting the library, but it is now a shelter for more than 50 people. Heavy bombings make it impossible for Zofia and the others to leave immediately for Ella’s house. They become trapped in the library as the Germans slowly recover all the areas of the city that the Home Army fought so hard to win. Zofia feels sure that Kasia and Danuta also died in Old Town, as neither of them would have left wounded people behind in the hospital. She finds a copy of All Quiet on the Western Front and reads it, remembering how Darek selected it for the Bandit Book Club. She decides to ensure that the books she and her friends have protected end up in the hands of readers once more. A ceasefire is called for a few hours on October 1 so that civilians can escape the city. Zofia, Janina, and Matka take Miss Laska to Ella’s home. The next day, the insurgents officially sign a surrender agreement with the Nazis, losing control of Warsaw once again.

Four months later, Zofia returns to the city. It is now February of 1945. The city suffered more damage after the Polish surrendered, as the Soviet forces chased the Nazis out of Warsaw and the retreating Germans left as much damage as possible in their wake. The main branch of the library has been mangled by bombs and fires. Zofia and Janina meet one of the librarians, who shows them the books that the few remaining staff managed to save. She tells them that they hope to reopen the library soon. Zofia feels a surge of hope when she sees that there are still people dedicated to the library. She takes Janina and another librarian to the secret warehouse. The building is even more damaged than before, but the basement warehouse remains intact.

Janina and Zofia move all the books from the hidden warehouse back to the main library, where other librarians are working to sort the collection. After a week in the city, they bring Matka, Mrs. Steinman, and Miss Laska back to Warsaw. They all move into the library because new residents have taken over their apartments and refuse to relinquish their homes. Miss Laska suggests that they ask civilians to donate their books to help refurbish the library collection. Matka and Mrs. Steinman help make the arrangements. The community is generous with donations during the book drive, including people whom Zofia recognizes from her work with the library during the war. Ewa and her sisters donate a well-worn family copy of Gulliver’s Travels. It takes the library staff several months to organize the library collection. There is no news of Darek, but they learn that Krystyna died with her unit during the insurgency. On opening day for the library, Zofia’s brother Antek arrives. He survived in a German labor camp during the war.

The epilogue is dated November 1989 and is narrated in first person from Zofia’s perspective. Zofia describes leaving Poland in late 1945, when the Soviet Union began persecuting anyone who had been part of the insurgency. She vowed not to return to Polish soil until Poland was free. She returned in 1989 after Soviet-era communism in Poland came to an end.

With their families, Zofia and Janina moved first to London, then to Paris, then to the French countryside. Zofia describes her goal of living for the people who died during the war, recalling Maria’s dreams of living in France, Kasia’s dreams of being a mother, and Marta Krakowska’s dream of a quiet life with a cat. Zofia had a husband, who died in 1987, and she has a daughter named Cosette. Janina married Antek. Now, in Warsaw, Zofia visits the National Museum and sees a drawing that Darek made of her on display. After that, she goes to her hotel and writes her story.