City Reads: The Book Thief May 23, 2009

Join Australian author Markus Zusak in his first ever UK event for the compelling conclusion to City Reads 2009, a three-month collective read of his international bestseller The Book Thief.

The story of a girl, an accordion, some fanatical
Germans and quite a lot of thievery, The Book Thief is a multilayered story about the power of words and reading to nourish the soul and change lives.

The Book Thief was published in 2005 in Australia as an adult novel, then in America in 2006 as a children's novel, where it went to number one in the New York Times bestseller lists. That rarest of literary phenomena, it is a modern crossover classic with both adult and teen reader appeal.

Markus is in conversation with Kate Mosse,
broadcaster, co-founder of the Orange Prize, and best-selling author of Labyrinth and Sepulchre.

'Unsettling, thoughtprovoking, life-affirming, triumphant and tragic, this is a novel of breathtaking scope, masterfully told.'

The Guardian

'For a whole community like Brighton to adopt my book in this way is exciting, humbling, and at least slightly terrifying. I can't wait to get up there - I'm honoured.'

Markus Zusak

Official Website: http://www.brightonfestival.org.uk/events/City%20Reads:%20The%20Book%20Thief/3192