In the opening scene of Emily Austin's fourth novel, a librarian named Darcy narrates her response to a patron watching porn in the library (mainly, per policy, to leave him be). From here, Darcy's story unfolds to grapple with love, grief, mental health, the importance of libraries, and the navigation of personal, professional, and public relationships. Is This a Cry for Help? continues in the vein of Austin's winsome work (Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead) with a disarmingly candid narrative voice, outrageous humor, and serious thinking on tough topics.
At Darcy's public library, she gets to help a cross-section of humanity: not only the toddlers, book clubs, and precocious teens she originally imagined, but also people who lack stable housing or who struggle with substance abuse or mental illness, job seekers, immigrants, and people with opinions different from her own. She has a wonderful wife with whom she shares her authentic self, two cats, and a lovely home. But when Darcy learns of the death of her ex-boyfriend, she is thrown off balance. The disruptions to her carefully organized life are often hysterically funny even as they are harrowing and tragic.
Darcy's not at her strongest for the challenge of an alt-right self-appointed journalist harassing the library or an attempted book ban. Her first-person narration shows her puzzling through the motivations of those around her, parsing social cues and questioning her own choices. Is This a Cry for Help? portrays a stressful period in Darcy's life, but one she ultimately inhabits with wisdom and grace. Hilarious, wrenching, endearingly odd, Darcy's story is both enlightening and somehow comforting. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia