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Description
Esther is a stowaway. She's hidden herself away in the Librarian's book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her, a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda. The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.
Media reviews
Instead of tackling magic this time around, Gailey has populated their novella with forces we know all too well in the real world: homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, patriarchy, fascism, perpetual war, and the fraught, post-truth minefield we find ourselves navigating today. But it's the book's
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setting that allows Gailey to explore these ideas in a fresh way — it takes place in an indeterminate future where the United States has devolved into a society that resembles the Old West.... Couched in tart language, hard-bitten imagery, and pulp-Western punch, the novella benefits from its brevity. There's not a word or scene wasted, and the world-building hints at the enormity of America's imagined collapse without overdoing it. Show Less
In a post-apocalyptic American West, Librarians deliver Approved Materials to isolated towns and outposts. They are also unwittingly delivering Esther, who ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage.... Combining winking humor, cinematic landscapes, heart-stopping action sequences, and
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romances that will leave readers silently squeeing, Gailey’s (Magic for Liars, 2019) slim novel is a feat of writerly sorcery that packs a sweeping political epic into fewer than 200 pages. Even as readers are charmed by the book’s sense of righteous rebellion and queer glee, the lesson Esther learns—that everyone has a right to be who they are—will catch them right in the feels. Show Less
"Gailey’s gorgeous writing and authentic characters make this slim volume a pure delight."
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novella — 2021)
Locus Award (Finalist — 2020)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2020)
NPR: Books We Love (2020)
ALA Over the Rainbow Book List (Longlist — Fiction and Poetry — 2021)
Language
Original publication date
2020-02-04