The Borrower

Description

A sparkling debut novel about the stories we read and the ones we tell ourselves Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both kidnapper and kidnapped when her favourite 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 anti-gay classes. When Lucy finds Ian camped out in the library after hours with a backpack of provisions and an escape plan, she allows herself to be hijacked by him and the pair embark on a spontaneous road trip. But is it just Ian who is running away? And should Lucy really be trying to save a boy from his own parents?

Rebecca Makkai's stories have been anthologised in the Best American Short Stories 2010, 2009, and 2008, and have appeared in Tin House, Ploughshares, The Threepenny Review, and on Public Radio's Selected Shorts. The Borrower is her first novel. She lives north of Chicago with her husband and two daughters. For more information visit Rebecca's website: www.rebeccamakkai.com

The heightening tension throughout their haphazard road trip from Missouri to Vermont is exhilarating... This astonishingly assured novel knows precisely where it's heading ... the reader is breathless with hope that Lucy and Ian will find a happy ending. * Daily Mail * A tale of the inspirational power of children's books...The Borrower is a tremendously entertaining read. * Financial Times * The Borrower's out and out charm is heightened by its furious, righteous heart and conviction that books offer salvation and hope when life is messy and near-unbearable * Marie Claire * Funny, charming debut...it's a lovely, inventive novel, smart but not annoyingly wise-cracking, about the power of books and stories to sustain people when life becomes impossible... warmly demonstrates that love can come in different and unexpected guises. * Metro * The sheer zest and care with which this book is written, as well as the emphasis on children's literature, set it apart... Makkai is an engaging writer. * Guardian *