Pierdomenico Baccalario

Burn this book: the boys who saved Doctor Zhivago

Adventure
Historical

Would you risk your life for a book? Three teenagers. Three historical eras. One secret that could change history forever.

Would you risk your life for a book? Boris Pasternak would say yes, because ideas are not born to be hidden or suffocated. His publisher, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, would agree—he managed to publish Doctor Zhivago, evading censorship. Against the backdrop of this adventurous and thrilling story, worthy of a great spy novel, we follow Nikolai, Anja, and Victor—sixteen-year-olds living in three different historical periods—always teetering on the brink of change.

  • A literary thriller spanning three timelines – sharp, layered storytelling for curious and brave young minds.
  • Big themes for young readers – freedom of speech, censorship, resistance, legacy.
Publisher: Feltrinelli
Target: 12+
Year: 2025
Author
Pierdomenico Baccalario

Pierdomenico Baccalario has been writing children’s novels since 1997, when he won the Il Battello a Vapore literary prize with La strada del Guerriero (The Way of the Warrior) using his neighbour’s name. Since then, his bestsellers have been written under as many pseudonyms (the best known being Ulysses Moore and Irene Adler), translated into more than thirty languages and published with major Italian and foreign publishers. He has collaborated with Lucca Comics & Games for more than twenty years, has written for Repubblica, and is a columnist for the newspaper Corriere della Sera’s La Lettura literary supplement. In 2014, he founded the Book on a Tree creative agency in London.

 

Discover More

Other stories you might like