The Librarian of Burned Books

by Brianna Labuskes

As she often did when she was flustered, Althea tried to imagine she was writing instead of living this scene. What would she do if she were the main character instead of the dowdy friend there simply to add contrast, if she were Lizzy Bennet instead of Charlotte Collins?

The thought of going to a different country by herself had been terrifying. More than once, she’d unpacked her bags. What is the worst that could happen? she’d asked herself. You could die, the fear whispered back. What is the best? You could live. Althea had repacked her bags and left her cottage by the cliffs.

“Books are a way we leave a mark on the world, aren’t they? They say we were here, we loved and we grieved and we laughed and we made mistakes and we existed. They can be burned halfway across the world, but the words cannot be unread, the stories cannot be untold. They do live on in this library, but more importantly they are immortalized in anyone who has read them.”

My love burns eternal, Otto had said. But Hannah was the practical one out of their little pair and she didn’t work like that. The only thing that burned eternal for her were grudges and bridges.

The men who sought violence didn’t understand that while swords could destroy bodies, a pen could destroy a nation.

Althea asked carefully, not wanting to insult anyone but not sure what else to say. Tongue-tied and struck mute in the face of pretty people, that was Althea to a tee.

The way to judge people wasn’t to look at how they acted toward people they wanted to impress; it was to look at the way they treated those who could do nothing for them.

“Life isn’t a fairy tale,” Hannah said, clearly reading Althea far better than she should be able to after two short encounters. “Good people do bad things, bad people do good things. And most people are just trying to survive.”

“Burning books about things you do not like or understand does not mean those things no longer exist.”

“‘When you sell a man a book you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue—you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humor and ships at sea by night—there’s all heaven and earth in a book.’”

If this was a fight they were going to win, they couldn’t hold grudges against the people they wanted to persuade.

A warm hand settled against her arm. Hannah’s hand. Her thumb stroked the soft skin of Althea’s wrist, a comforting gesture that had become a secret message between them. If you touch . . . you can feel a person’s heart.

“I always feel like the book I’m reading is my favorite, even if it’s not technically better than others that I adore.”

“You will never be a supporting character to me.”