Returning to her post on a bench in front of the burned-out remains of a beloved library, a dedicated librarian reads out loud from books that have survived until her persistence helps bolster her community's recovery, in a story inspired by the Bosnian War bombing of the National Library of Sarajevo.

"A timeless story of strife and hope set during the conflict in the Balkans in the early '90s-a searing debut novel about a woman who faces the war on her doorstep with courage, fierceness, and an unshakable belief in the power of art. Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect makeshift barricades, splitting the city into ethnic enclaves. Each morning, the people who live there-whether Muslim, Croat, or Serb-push the barriers aside....