A novel not just about libraries or bookstores, but specifically about a Little Free Library! Who could resist? Well, not me at least.
Set in a small Georgia town, this novel hits every one of the cultural hot-button issues of our time. Book banning. Racist prejudice against black or brown people. Anti-LGBTQ bigotry. Anti-immigrant likewise. ‘Protecting the children’ from pernicious influences. Sexist rules and regulations. The Confederacy, Nazi-ism, and white supremacy. Self-righteous religious nuts. Unwillingness to confront historical wrongs.
This may all sound suspiciously moralistic, but in fact Lula Dean’s Library of Banned Books is subversively satirical.
In the small town of Troy, Georgia, the titular Lula Dean is a middle-aged woman who suddenly finds that fulminating about ‘immoral’ books brings her the attention she has always wanted. And not just from the townspeople, she is now considered a moral crusader by the rightwing news media! Lula sets up a Little Free Library of books she considers appropriate, such as ‘The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette’. But Lindsay Underwood, a college student strongly opposed to book-banning, quietly replaces all the books with banned ones, while keeping the dust jackets intact. Thus, anyone who picks up ‘Buffy Halliday Goes to Europe!‘ will actually be getting ‘Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl‘. The cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette actually hides the much-banned Judy Blume. And so on.
Each chapter carries the title of one of Lula’s books ( a nice metaphorical nod to the book title), and over the course of the chapter, someone picks that book up and has their eyes opened by the banned book within. Dawn Duggan’s husband Nathan secretly collects Nazi memorabilia, but after reading Anne Frank, Dawn throws his collection on the front lawn, takes their son and leaves him. Young Elijah Wright picks up Chicken Soup for the Soul and finds within Rivals and Lovers, and learns that a book can’t ‘turn him gay’; in fact, a gay romance novel is no more interesting to him than a heterosexual romance. And so on.
The arguments for and against each issue are presented, with neat summaries of the Southern conservative viewpoint.
The War of Northern Aggression had been a barbaric invasion — an attack on the Southern way of life. Before everything went wrong, all the rich families who’d settled the land had been lifted up by God himself, who’d blessed them with good brains, excellent breeding, and a Puritan work ethic. The Black folks who’d toiled in their homes and on their farms — first for free, then for next to nothing — were every one of them lucky to be there. They were all so happy they danced and sang in the fields. Meanwhile, the poor whites who drank and stole and spread venereal diseases only had themselves to blame for their misfortunes.
The novel has a clear slant: the conservative viewpoints are presented only to be shot down with logical counter-arguments.
[Bella, a high-schooler] “The principal [..] said dress codes are necessary because if girls are allowed to wear what we want, the boys won’t be able to focus. I said why not let the girls dress comfortably and send the boys home until they can show self-control?”
[…] “He said it’s easier for girls to dress modestly than for boys to behave. And so I told him I wasn’t interested in following rules that make life harder for girls so it can be easier for boys.”
If you agree with Bella, you will likely agree even more with Isaac, the teenage black genius who has just come out to his parents as gay, and who is calmly battling religious objections:
“I am exactly as God made me,” [..] Isaac informed the preacher. “I will not question God’s wisdom and neither should you.”
(If you don’t agree with Bella and Isaac, this is not the book for you.)
The book is written from several viewpoints, and at times it seems like every single person in the town has a chapter in their voice. The author does a reasonable job of keeping the voices distinct, but there are still times when the reader can lose track of who they all are.
On one side are the independent thinkers of the town and on the other are those who fall into line behind Lula Dean. Some of Lula’s followers, like Melody Sykes, don’t entirely believe in her crusade, but are not willing to stand up against her. The rightwing news media is depicted with biting accuracy: in one section, a couple with ambivalent views watches in bemusement as their opinions are mis-characterized and their interview edited to make them seem much more forcefully rightwing.
South Asians will note the inclusion of Dr Chokshi, the only doctor in town, who has recently moved here and is constantly asked where he is really from.
“Queens”, he answered. “It’s in New York City.”
[..] “Humph.” There was always a humpf. “Where are your parents from?”
“Queens,” Dr Chokshi said. [..] “I bet you’re wondering why someone like me moved to your hometown. No? Well, your friend Mr Walsh didn’t hesitate to ask. He seemed to think I came here to blow up the Walmart.”
Dr Chokshi goes on to describe precisely why he is here, and what will happen to the medical options in the small town if he leaves. And whaddya know, he also happens to be a huge fan of country music, a nicely un-stereotypical touch.
This novel is full of very topical casual asides. One character loves The Art of the Deal. Another pulls a book whose dust jacket is ‘the book by that senator — Manhood‘ (see this review in The Nation!). There is a larger story arc as well, which propels the book to its excitable conclusion.
The whole novel is somewhat larger-than-life and over-the-top, and the plethora of cultural topics along with the conveniently neat conclusion makes this book seem like it would fit best into the young-adult genre. It’s a fun read, nevertheless.
Sounds like a lot of fun! And see what I found in the punch line of the review for ‘Manhood’ in The Nation: The book reveals the Missouri senator’s weird fixation.
Weird, indeed!