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At the age of 17, Sorj Chalandon left Lyons and a family marked by a violent father, taking with him only a bank note given to him by his mother, a sleeping bag and a post card showing the Book of Kells, a ninth-century illuminated manuscript. That post card and that book would give him access to another identity and the name Kells would become his shield and his hope. In Paris, he was completely alone, without refuge or human warmth and would spend almost a year in abject poverty. He would meet far-left militants there and make solidarity and militancy his new creed. But what happens when ideals collapse, bonds are broken and struggle turns into violence? A tragic event would call everything into question and Kells would once again be forced to choose another path.
The Book of Kells is not just the personal adventure of a runaway boy but the intense, vivid and authentic story of youth’s experience of ideals, poverty, betrayal and rebirth.

Federica Manzon
She is the author of different novels, including Di fama e di sventura (2011), which won her the Rapallo Carige Prize for Female Literature, the Premio Campiello Selezione Giuria dei Letterati prize and the Premio Asti d’Appello prize; La nostalgia degli altri (2017); Il bosco del confine (2020). Her latest book Alma (Feltrinelli, 2024) has won the Campiello Prize, the Alassio Prize, the Stresa Prize, the International Piero Ottone Sea Prize. She writes for different magazines and daily newspapers and is the editorial director of the Guanda publishing house.