Monday, May 11, 2009

The Library of Shadows - sneak peek

The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard and translated by Tiina Nunally will be published in paperback on 4 June. This is the author's first book.

Blurb: Imagine that some people have the power to affect your thoughts and feelings when you read, or they read a book to you. They can seduce you with amazing stories, conjure up vividly imagined worlds, but also manipulate you into thinking exactly what they want you to. When Luca Campelli dies a sudden and violent death, his son Jon inherits his second-hand bookshop, Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen. Jon has not seen his father for twenty years since the mysterious death of his mother. When Luca's death is followed by an arson attempt on the shop, Jon is forced to explore his family's past. Unbeknown to Jon, the bookshop has for years been hiding a remarkable secret. It is the meeting place of a society of booklovers and readers, who have maintained a tradition of immense power passed down from the days of the great library of ancient Alexandria. Now someone is trying to destroy them, and Jon finds himself in a fight for his life and those of his new friends.

Opening line: Luca Campelli's wish to die surrounded by his beloved books came true late one night in October.

Click on the widget below to view a 43 page extract.

2 comments:

Maxine Clarke said...

Sounds interesting - definitely one for my list to read!

Dorte H said...

So here was the Danish novel :)
I have heard about it, but not as much as I´d expect considering that it has already been translated.