The Borrower
A Novel
-
-
3.4 • 5 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road.
Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. The precocious Ian is addicted to reading, but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly antigay classes with celebrity Pastor Bob. Lucy stumbles into a moral dilemma when she finds Ian camped out in the library after hours with a knapsack of provisions and an escape plan. Desperate to save him from Pastor Bob and the Drakes, Lucy allows herself to be hijacked by Ian. The odd pair embarks on a crazy road trip from Missouri to Vermont, with ferrets, an inconvenient boyfriend, and upsetting family history thrown in their path. But is it just Ian who is running away? Who is the man who seems to be on their tail? And should Lucy be trying to save a boy from his own parents?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A young boy and a librarian end up on an illegal road trip in Rebecca Makkai’s first novel, an unusual coming-of-age story. Children’s librarian Lucy takes a shining to 10-year-old Ian, secretly giving him access to the books that his overbearing evangelical mother forbids. When Lucy learns that Ian’s about to be shipped out for antigay conversion therapy, she agrees to help the voracious young reader run away. As the pair flee from Missouri to Vermont, Lucy wonders where exactly they’re headed—and how much her own family history is informing her decisions. That’s what’s so great about this novel. Makkai skilfully balances the excitement and danger of being on the run with the kind of weighty, introspective thoughts that bubble up during a long drive. Empathetic and emotional, The Borrower is an uplifting read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Makkai shows promise in her overworked debut, an occasionally funny crime farce about a hapless librarian cum accidental kidnapper. Lucy Hull is a 26-year-old whose rebellion against her wealthy Russian mafia parents has taken the form of her accepting a children's librarian job in smalltown Missouri. After an unnecessarily long-winded first act, the novel picks up when Lucy discovers her favorite library regular, 10-year-old Ian Drake, hiding out in the stacks one morning after having run away from his evangelical Christian parents, who censor his book choices and are pre-emptively sending him to SSAD (Same-Sex Attraction Disorder) rehab, and Lucy soon aids and abets his escape. The tale of their subsequent jaunt across several state lines dodging cops, a persistent suitor of Lucy's, and a suspicious black-haired pursuer is fast-paced, suspenseful, and thoroughly enjoyable the real meat of the book. Unfortunately, the padding around the adventure too often feels like preaching to the choir (censorship is bad, libraries and independent booksellers are good) and the frequent references to children's books including a "choose-your-own adventure" interlude quickly go from cute to irritating. There's great potential, but it's buried in unfortunate fluff.
