Why did I love this book?
Kuang connected many of the worlds I love: history, translation, literature, and social issues. She did so seamlessly through unforgettable and relatable characters and a heart-wrenching plot.
This novel made me think about colonization and racism at a deeper level. I was forced to reflect on how these issues affect our lives even now. The ending left me speechless; no book’s ending had ever made me so emotional in my life.
24 authors picked Babel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES AND #1 NYT BESTSELLER
'One for Philip Pullman fans'
THE TIMES
'An ingenious fantasy about empire'
GUARDIAN
'Fans of THE SECRET HISTORY, this one is an automatic buy'
GLAMOUR
'Ambitious, sweeping and epic'
EVENING STANDARD
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
Oxford, 1836.
The city of dreaming spires.
It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.
And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.
Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by…