DESCRIPTION
Emily Austin, the bestselling “queen of darkly quirky, endearingly flawed heroines” (Sarah Haywood, author of The Cactus), returns with a luminous new novel following a librarian who comes back to work after a mental breakdown only to confront book-banning crusaders in an empowering story of grief, love, & the power of libraries.
Darcy's life turned out better than she could have ever imagined. She is a librarian at the local branch, while her wife Joy runs a book binding service. Between the two of them, there is no more room on their shelves with their ample book collections, various knickknacks & bobbles, & dried bouquets. Rounding out their ideal life is two cats & a sun-soaked house by the lake.
But when Darcy receives the news that her ex-boyfriend, Ben, has passed away, she spirals into a pit of guilt & regret, resulting in a mental breakdown & medical leave from the library. When she returns to work, she is met by unrest in her community & protests surrounding intellectual freedom, resulting in a call for book bans and a second look at the branch’s upcoming DEI programs.
Through the support of her community, colleagues, & the personal growth that results from examining her previous relationships, Darcy comes into her own agency & the truest version of herself. Is This a Cry for Help? not only offers a moving portrait of queer life after coming of age but also powerfully explores questions about sexuality, community, & the importance of libraries.
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Emily Austin is the author of We Could Be Rats, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Interesting Facts About Space, & the poetry collectionGay Girl Prayers. She was born in Ontario, Canada, & received two writing grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts. She studied English literature & library science at Western University. She currently lives in Ottawa, in the territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.
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