The Burning Library, page 29
They were so different from me, so calculating, so powerful, so dedicated to elevating women’s lives and probably more realistic about what it took to change a man’s world than I might ever be. They were terrifying. What they were willing to do, and had done, was horrendous. Part of me felt like I’d just made a deal with the devil, but I knew I’d had no choice.
“Of course all of this is contingent on us taking possession of the book,” Cece said.
“You don’t get the book until we get the money,” Tracy said.
I messaged Sid and Clio, and they met us in the street.
I asked Sid to give the book to Tracy, and he handed her a simple cotton tote bag containing a priceless manuscript. Cece watched every move. I’d looked into the eyes of both women, and I knew they’d never stop fighting each other to get what they wanted, but this might bring some temporary peace between them, perhaps enough to last a generation, perhaps not.
A town car pulled up, sleek and shiny, and out of place in this neighborhood. Tracy and Cece left together. I couldn’t imagine what they might be saying to each other in the car.
I leaned into Sid and felt safer than I had for days, but I also knew I’d never feel safe again, not the way I had before that email from Diana Cornish dropped into my mailbox.
We said goodbye to Clio. She took a cab. Sid and I decided to walk. I was thinking about Magnus, trying to work out how I felt about him now.
After we’d been walking in silence for a while, I asked, “Do you think either of those groups are really doing good? Considering their methods, are they truly helping women or are they seeking power for its own sake?”
“Both,” Sid said. “What do you think?”
We’d reached the riverbank, which was gently sloped, and we walked down onto a pebbly beach. The water ran fast and clear; it was a beautiful shade of turquoise. Sid skimmed stones and I sat on the beach and watched. On the opposite bank the city of Verona rose up, centuries old, as timeless and beautiful and proud as ever, but it had been built by men.
After a while I’d worked out my answer. I said it aloud, even though Sid was too far away to hear me. I didn’t need him to.
I said, “They did what it took.”
Author’s Note
A fictional explanation of the mysterious Voynich manuscript can be found at the heart of this novel. The historical figures, places, and many of the artworks it’s based on are real.
Acknowledgments
Heartfelt thanks to my long-standing and outstanding editor, Emily Krump, at William Morrow for having faith in such a wild pitch and guiding this novel toward its potential. Knowing the state of the first draft of this book, I imagine editing it might have felt something like herding cats. I’m super grateful for your talent, acuity, vision, and word-wrangling skills.
Warmest thanks must also go to Liate Stehlik and Jen Hart at Morrow for your backing. And heaps more gratitude is due to Paige Meintzer, Camille Collins, Amelia Wood, Hope Breeman, Elsie Lyons, and the wonderful sales team.
To the outstanding HarperCollins team in Canada. I’m indebted to Cory Beatty. Thanks for having my back, working your sales and marketing magic, and being so fun to spend time with since the beginning. Thanks to Rebecca Silver and Brenann Francis for everything you do. You’re a pleasure to work with. And to Leo Macdonald: you might have retired but I will always be grateful for your generosity and support while you were steering the ship.
Huge thanks to Jade Chandler, who saw the fun in this novel and brought it under her wing at Baskerville in the UK, and to Rebecca Folland, Helena Dorée, Louise Henderson-Clark, Zoe King, and Sophie Jackson from the rights team, who have found wonderful homes for it in more countries than I dreamed of. Warmest thanks to Zulekhá Afzal, Alice Herbert, Ellie Bailey, Kyla Dean, and Megan Schaffer. For an outstanding cover design, thanks to Lydia Blagden, and last but by no means least I’m incredibly grateful to Jocasta Hamilton and Nick Davies for your support.
Warm thanks, too, to Katy Loftus for suggesting such a smoking-hot title.
To Helen Heller and Jemma McDonagh, I’m hugely grateful to you both for finding such wonderful homes for this novel in North America, the UK, and Germany. Thank you.
Thanks to Professor Clare Bowern of Yale Linguistics, who kindly gifted me the idea for the discovery of a glossary that would facilitate a translation of Voynichese. Thanks also to Carm Del Guercio, who advised me on internet security. Any mistakes I’ve made or liberties I’ve taken in these areas are all mine.
To my author friends. Thank you for being so inspiring and supportive. To the booksellers, readers, bloggers, and reviewers who support my books, I’m grateful for you all.
Jules, thank you for the chicken Caesar salad.
Rose, thank you for unscrambling my brain, for remaining unflappably cool and brilliant, and for providing weeks of invaluable editorial support and suggestions during the drafting and editing of this novel. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Max, thank you for suggesting I take a look at a mysterious manuscript named after Wilfrid Voynich when this book was in the planning stage. You unleashed a beast.
Rose, Max, and Louis, thank you for setting such incredible and energizing examples with your tenacity in riding the ups and down of a creative life, your commitment to exploring possibilities and embracing creative risk, and the energy you put into producing your best work. The three of you inspire me every day.
About the Author
GILLY MACMILLAN is the internationally bestselling author of eight other novels, including The Manor House, The Perfect Girl, The Nanny, and The Long Weekend. She lives in Bristol, England.
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Also by Gilly Macmillan
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
the burning library. Copyright © 2025 by Gilly Macmillan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Without limiting the exclusive rights of any author, contributor or the publisher of this publication, any unauthorized use of this publication to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is expressly prohibited. HarperCollins also exercise their rights under Article 4(3) of the Digital Single Market Directive 2019/790 and expressly reserve this publication from the text and data mining exception.
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first edition
Cover design by Elsie Lyons
Cover photographs © Getty Images; © Shutterstock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Macmillan, Gilly, author.
Title: The burning library : a novel / Gilly Macmillan.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : William Morrow, 2025.
Identifiers: LCCN 2025000600 | ISBN 9780063422919 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780063422933 (paperback) | ISBN 9780063422940 (ebook)
Subjects: LCGFT: Thrillers (Fiction) | Novels.
Classification: LCC PR6113.A269 B87 2025 | DDC 823/.92—dc23/ eng/20250107
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025000600
Digital Edition NOVEMBER 2025 ISBN: 978-0-06-342294-0
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-342291-9
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Gilly Macmillan, The Burning Library
