Excerpt from The Book Collectors by Delphine Minoui, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Ahmad takes his time standing up, the book against his chest. His entire body is shaking.

"The same sensation of freedom I felt at my first protest," he whispers through the computer screen.

Ahmad cuts off, his face once again a patchwork of pixels. A detonation has interrupted the internet connection. I stare at the screen. I think I hear a sigh. He takes a big breath and continues his story, giving an inventory of the other books found in the rubble that day: Arabic and international literature, philosophy, theology, science. A sea of information in arm's reach.

"But we had to hurry," he continues. "Planes were rumbling outside. We moved fast, dug up the books, and filled the bed of a pickup to the brim."

Copyright © 2017 by Éditions du Seuil

Translation copyright © 2020 by Lara Vergnaud