Masha Hamilton

The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton is a tale about an American librarian, Fiona Sweeney, who leaves Brooklyn to work for a relief organization in Africa that sends books on the backs of camels to forgotten villages. Fiona’s intentions are entirely pure but, when the bookmobile causes a feud among the nomadic tribe it aims to help, she realizes her good deeds may come with a high price. Hamilton worked as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press for five years in the Middle East, spent five years in Moscow where she was a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, then traveled to Afghanistan as a freelance journalist. She currently lives with her family in Brooklyn. To donate books to the real camel bookmobile in northern Kenya, visit the Camel Book Drive.

This reading was part of the Portland Public Library’s Brown Bag Lecture Series, sponsored by Martin’s Point Health Care.

Please leave your questions and comments here.