Brianna Labuskes has published seven psychological thrillers. She comes to fiction writing from a decade-and-a-half journalism career covering politics and policy in Washington, D.C. She now lives in Asheville, N.C., with her dog, Jinx. Labuskes's first historical novel, The Librarian of Burned Books (Morrow, February 21, 2023), is a Sapphic love story and a testament to the power books have over the very darkest of times.
Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
It's an underdog fight with a powerful senator over book bans and censorship--and, no, it's not set today but in 1944.
On your nightstand now:
The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey by Serena Burdick. I absolutely adored Burdick's last novel, The Girls with No Names,about a group home in New York City where unruly girls were sent in the early 1900s. With her intriguing settings, lush prose and complex characters, she has become a must-buy author for me.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This was one of the first books I remember creating the full range of human emotions within me. And not only a full range but a complicated one--grief-tinged happiness, sweet sadness, a satisfying ending instead of a picture-perfect, easy one.
Your top five authors:
Oh no! Only five? I'll say for historical fiction: Maggie Shipstead (Great Circle), Jennifer Chiaverini (Resistance Women), Kate Quinn (The Diamond Eye), Pip Williams (The Dictionary of Lost Words) and Sarah James (The Woman with Two Shadows).
Book you've faked reading:
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. I can't get through Hemingway no matter how many times I've tried. But he would always be assigned reading in English classes, so I did my best to muddle through conversations about him.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, a beautiful coming-of-age story set in 1950s San Francisco. The main character is the queer daughter of Chinese immigrants, who--apart from handling all the messiness that comes with being a teenager--has to deal with the Red Scare panic sweeping the country.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen. The cover is so pretty: it's gilded lavender wallpaper with bunnies, which is important to the plot, and when you take a step back you realize the shadows on the wall form a profile of a woman. The best part is that this queer cozy historical mystery lives up to its appealing cover, and its fun and complex main character has enough charisma to anchor a whole series.
Book you hid from your parents:
I've been reading my mom's romance novel collection since I was a teenager, so I don't think there was ever a book I hid from my parents. She loved the titans of the late 20th century, like Johanna Lindsey and Judith McNaught, both of whom imbued me with a love of historical romances.
Book that changed your life:
Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry. This was one of the first, if not the first, psychological thriller I had ever read, and it started me on a path that led to me becoming a published author in the genre. Berry, whose voice is lovely and rich, also has a stunner in Northern Spy, set in the time of the Troubles in Ireland, for those who prefer history with their intrigue.
Favorite line from a book:
"I don't ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside me there'll always be the person I am tonight." --F. Scott Fitzgerald in Tender Is the Night. It's a line I've come back to for nearly two decades since finding it. Although it's romantic in intention, it's always meant something broader to me. Every decision you make in your life was made by someone you were in that moment, and so every decision deserves the respect, love and kindness you feel for every version of yourself. No matter how it turned out.
Five books you'll never part with:
The Book Thieves by Anders Rydell. This book has sparked ideas for two novels now; I'm never letting it go! In Memoriam by Alice Winn, a love story between two soldiers in the Great War, publishing in March. From the first page, I knew this would be a book I would read time and again. A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, a Victorian love story with a twist of magic. As you can tell by now, it's the romances I read over and over. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid is a contemporary enemies-to-lovers book about hockey players that has become a comfort blanket in terms of reading. And A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, one of the favorite books in the Armed Services Editions series featured in The Librarian of Burned Books. It's sweet and classic and deserves rereads through the various seasons of my life.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
In Memoriam by Alice Winn. This historical fiction novel set heavily in the World War I trenches is tender, loving, heartbreaking, endlessly compelling, richly detailed and poetic. I stayed up until 3 a.m. so I could read it in one sitting, because I simply couldn't stop myself.
Book in The Librarian of Burned Books that is your favorite:
The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. Something about Don Quixote has always appealed to me. The idea of tilting at windmills because he thought they were giants never came across as foolish to me--but rather courageous. You can find mentions of Don Quixote in most of my books, and my favorite line from it is: "Too much sanity may be madness--and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!"