The Book Censor's Library - by Bothayna Al-Essa (Paperback)

About the Book

"The new book censor hasn't slept soundly in weeks. By day he combs through manuscripts at a government office, looking for anything that would make a book unfit to publish--allusions to queerness, unapproved religions, any mention of life before the Revolution. By night the characters of literary classics crowd his dreams, and pilfered novels pile up in the house he shares with his wife and daughter. As the siren song of forbidden reading continues to beckon, he descends into a netherworld of resistance fighters, undercover booksellers, and outlaw librarians trying to save their history and culture."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

FINALIST, National Book Award for Translated Literature, 2024

A perilous and fantastical satire of banned books, secret archives, and the looming eye of an all-powerful government.

The new book censor hasn't slept soundly in weeks. By day he combs through manuscripts at a government office, looking for anything that would make a book unfit to publish--allusions to queerness, unapproved religions, any mention of life before the Revolution. By night the characters of literary classics crowd his dreams, and pilfered novels pile up in the house he shares with his wife and daughter. As the siren song of forbidden reading continues to beckon, he descends into a netherworld of resistance fighters, undercover booksellers, and outlaw librarians trying to save their history and culture.

Reckoning with the global threat to free speech and the bleak future it all but guarantees, Bothayna Al-Essa marries the steely dystopia of Orwell's 1984 with the madcap absurdity of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. The Book Censor's Library is a warning call and a love letter to stories and the delicious act of losing oneself in them.

Review Quotes

"The Book Censor's Library is a rallying cry for bibliophiles everywhere." --Time Magazine, the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

"Bothayna Al-Essa's The Book Censor's Library is a necessary masterpiece, proving that true fiction is not an escape into a dreamlike Wonderland but a cautionary excursion into the depths of the human condition. More than ever, we need Bothayna Al-Essa's rallying cry against censorship, be it political, religious or academic, because, as her novel so brilliantly illustrates, censorship is always an admission of intellectual cowardice." --Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading

"An urgent, sweeping call to arms for the protection of books and book lovers everywhere." --Kirkus Reviews

"Al-Essa (Lost in Mecca) riffs on Kafka with this canny story of a book censor who transforms into a reader. Throughout, Al-Essa lays out the supposed dangers of reading in coolly ironic terms. . . This allegory brims with intelligence." --Publishers Weekly

"Meaning, metaphor, and the material are all at stake in this sly fable of a near-future won by censors who ban not just books but imagination, dreams, and desire. Like the fluffy white creatures munching cabbage across these pages, I fell right down Al-Essa's rabbit hole--I'd follow these characters anywhere." --Emily Drabinski, president of the American Library Association

"Expertly infusing both comedic heart and dystopian warning, Bothayna Al-Essa reminds us how lucky we are to embody the stories we love." --Jade Song, author of Chlorine

"The Book Censor's Library was a riveting tale that was part homage to books and reading and part social commentary of the horrors of authoritarianism. Full of literary references, it's a treasure trove of Easter eggs for those keen to spot every mention and every metaphor. But it was also a captivating story as we follow the book censor through his journey uncovering the delights and dangers (at least in his world) of literature." --Nicki J. Markus, author of Time Keepers

"Bothayna Al-Essa's claustrophobic satire summons the spirits of Orwell, Carroll, and Kafka, serving as a sharp reminder to cherish free speech. . . . a fast-paced meditation on the power of language to stir us out of numbness." --Farah Abdessamad, The New Arab

"Time will tell whether The Book Censor's Library possesses the same kind of world-changing verve of, say, Orwell's 1984. . . . In the meantime, call all your friends, and especially your enemies, in Florida, and let them know that you've heard that Al-Essa's novel might, especially with its liberal use of unregulated rabbits, be even more dangerous than some already banned books." --Bruce J. Krajewski, Ancillary Review of Books

"At once fascinating and disturbing. Like other stories about books and writing, The Book Censor's Library drags the reader into itself, claiming to be one kind of book but unexpectedly (and imperceptibly) turning into another." -- Rachel Cordasco, Necessary Fiction

"Al-Essa's satirical novel is fierce and unrelent-ing. . . . It's about critical thinking, creativity as an act of rebellion, the difference between resistance and revolution, and the lengths we'll go to protect the people we love." -- Alex Brown, Locus Magazine

"More than just a surreal fantasy, The Book Censor's Library is also a fable of life and resistance under an oppressive regime. . . . bitingly satirical and engaging throughout." -- Sanjay Sipahimalani, Hindustan Times

"A breathless, kaleidoscopic novel"

--Hannah Somerville, Banipal

"Lyrical and poetic... Al-Essa has a way of making the reader feel as if they themselves are being oppressed... Her words are heavy as she highlights the moments that change life abruptly."

--Manal Shakir, Arab News

-- "All That I Want to Forget"

About the Author

Bothayna Al-Essa is the bestselling Kuwaiti author of nearly a dozen novels and additional children's books. She is also the founder of Takween, a bookshop and publisher of critically acclaimed works. Her most recent book, The Book Censor's Library, won the Sharjah Award for Creativity in the novel category in 2021 and is her third novel to appear in English, after Lost in Mecca and All That I Want to Forget. Al-Essa was author-in-residence at the British Centre for Literary Translation for the summer of 2023, and the recipient of Kuwait's Nation Encouragement Award for her fiction in 2003 and 2012. She has written books on writing and led writing workshops throughout the Arab world.

Sawad Hussain is a translator from Arabic whose work has been recognised by English PEN, the Anglo-Omani Society and the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, among others. She is a judge for the Palestine Book Awards and the 2023 National Translation Award. She has run translation workshops under the auspices of Shadow Heroes, Africa Writes, Shubbak Festival, the Yiddish Book Center, the British Library, and the National Centre for Writing. Her most recent translations include Black Foam by Haji Jaber (AmazonCrossing) and What Have You Left Behind by Bushra al-Maqtari (Fitzcarraldo Editions). She was selected to be the Princeton Translator in Residence in 2025. Her website is sawadhussain.com.

Ranya Abdelrahman is a translator of Arabic literature into English. After working for more than sixteen years in the information technology industry, she changed careers and joined the Emirates Literature Foundation to pursue her interest in books and promoting reading. She discovered her passion for translation during her time at the Foundation, where she worked as Programme Manager, and later Head of Education and Publishing. Abdelrahman has published translations in ArabLit Quarterly and The Common, and is the translator of Out of Time, a short story collection by iconic Palestinian author Samira Azzam. Her latest translation is best-selling Kuwaiti author Bothayna Al-Essa's satirical novel The Book Censor's Library, which she co-translated with Sawad Hussain.