Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak is an Australian novelist whose work has touched millions of readers worldwide with its emotional power and narrative invention. Born in Sydney in 1975 to Austrian and German parents, he grew up listening to stories of the Second World War from his mother. He studied English and History at university and worked as a teacher before becoming a full-time writer. Zusak is best known for The Book Thief, narrated by Death himself, which tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a young girl living with foster parents in Nazi Germany who steals books and shares them with her neighbours and the Jewish man hidden in her basement. The novel has sold over sixteen million copies worldwide, was translated into over forty languages, and was adapted into a major film. His other novels include The Messenger (I Am the Messenger), which won the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year, and Bridge of Clay. His audiobooks and books offer listeners and readers fiction of extraordinary emotional power — stories told with narrative daring and a belief in the redemptive power of words that will leave you changed.