The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Flipping through the pages, I found my favourite chapter, where Esmeralda is rescued by Captain Phoebus. It was like reuniting with an old friend. I could have wept. Then the cold memories surfaced, and I snapped the cover shut. The last time I saw that book, its pages were strewn on the floor, trampled and muddied by the coppers’ boots.

