The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

A librarian and book-obsessed boy take to the road in an escape from their futures.

The library is Ian Drake’s 
refuge. His evangelical mother has enrolled him in weekly 
anti-gay classes and restricted his book choices to godly ones. Librarian Lucy Hall finds herself an unwitting kidnapper when ten-year-old Ian absconds from home and the pair go on the run in Lucy’s beaten-up old car. Nauseous from junk food and guilt, they embark on an adventure that takes in Lucy’s Russian relations, an inconvenient boyfriend, motels and ferrets. 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. 

Reviewed by Eithne Farry

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