Anthony Doerr’s Cloud Cuckoo Land is a sumptuous ode to the art and impact of storytelling. Its tactfully woven narrative tells the interconnected stories of dreamers and outsiders trying to survive in a world that crushes their hope and optimism at every turn. The book focuses on the connected experiences of 5 characters: in the past, Anna and Omeir, two children on either side of the ancient city walls of Constantinople during the siege of 1453; in the present, the lives of sensitive and idealistic Seymour, and Octogenarian Zeno, collide during a shocking act of violence in the library of an Idaho town; and in the future, we follow Konstance, the lone inhabitant of a generation ship bound for a place she will not live to see. 

Separated by time, culture, and the vast expanse of history, these characters are all tethered together by a book written in ancient Greek—the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a paradise in the sky. Finding solace, comfort, and hope in Atheon’s story, Cloud Cuckoo Land’s diverse cast shows us what it means to care for the earth, our history, and our shared humanity.