A small jewel, this book, I read it in French and enjoyed the language. The story made me realize how a revolution against intellectuals affected their every day life, how owning or reading "books" could endangered their daily life, how also a book could tranform a life (the seamstress) and how a"book" becomes your daily bread, your breathing space.

I loved the book, I loved its atmosphere, bit mysterious,bit real, I loved its ending [comment removed due to plot spoiler]. The writting is elegant, poetic.I had to research about Sri Lanka in order to be able to travel with the characters and that was great adventure.