Emily Austin returns to the literary world with an absolute charmer of a novel about libraries and the people who run them.
On paper, Darcy has made it. She works as a librarian at her local branch while her wife runs a bookbinding business out of the workshop that sits behind their lakeside cottage. It is, unsurprisingly, also book filled. Darcy has great friends, a supportive boss, and two sweet cats. Added up, she has managed to create a life of meaning and comfort that most people dream of. At least, that’s what she believed before she came across her ex-boyfriend’s obituary, a piece of news that casts doubt on everything she thought she knew about herself, ultimately catapulting her into a mental breakdown and a resulting two-month medical leave from her beloved job.
And here is where we meet Darcy, on her first day back at work following said absence. She’s raw, unsettled, and – as if that wasn’t enough to deal with – having to navigate a patron watching porn on the community computers. It’s not a crime. Unless the footage contains anything illegal (which it doesn’t), her job states that she’s not supposed to do anything at all. So, she reminds the room to respectfully use headphones, and considers the problem handled. Except one patron believes the problem to be very much not handled. When she takes the matter to a local conservative paper, the library comes under fire, and Darcy finds herself trying to untangle both her work and personal life at the same time.
Is This a Cry for Help? balances two intertwined narratives beautifully. The first being a tender portrait of one woman’s self-actualization, a sort of second coming-of-age. And the other, a powerful case against rising censorship in public libraries. Through Darcy, Austin (a graduate of library science herself) expands the conversation of book bans by sharing who the library serves and how it serves them. I fell in love with this book from the very first page. It’s a passionate book led by a passionate character, which can’t help but equate to a passionate reading experience.
