Review: The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak

Reader beware, titles can sometimes be deceiving. This book may be called the Banned Books Club, but banned books, and the club, take a back seat to the stories of the three main protagonists. There is Gia, a very independent woman who many years ago started a banned books club at her school, only to find herself run out of town after she had her English teacher charged, and convicted, of sexual assault. (Long story short, the townspeople wouldn't believe her, even though the court did.) Then there is Margo, Gia's seemingly perfect sister, who didn't get run out of town, who married a popular local man and who is begging for her sister to come home to help care for their mother. What Gia doesn't know is that Margo has suffered through her husband's coercive control and she's hoping that Gia will come home so that she can finally make a clean break of it. And then, because this is a small town, there is Cormac, the very attractive local vet who no woman can catch or keep, who just happened to have a crush on Gia when they were kids. There is just one complication--his father is the teacher who sexually assaulted Gia and Cormac and his sisters have gone through their entire adult lives believing that their father is innocent and Gia ruined his life.

While the story does not exactly match the title, or the cover which hints at small town romance, it provides an interesting story on what happens when the victims are not believed. Gia, in spite of seeing her abuser convicted faces another trial one which has a direct impact on her adult life, forcing her to live away from her family and to suffer harassment each time she comes home, until her strength and the eventual intervention of others begins to change minds. Margo, meanwhile, is trapped in an impossible situation where she fears her own husband and fears leaving, knowing that her own children will be used to hurt her. The writing isn't always perfect and the pacing is a bit off, but the author certainly knows how to make the reader feel for the characters. I enjoyed this one, though I felt that the title was a bit misleading and the plotting could have been better--for example, the author builds up to a showdown between Gia and Cormac's sisters and it all happens off page which I found a bit disappointing.

A story of survival and small town prejudice. 

Recommended.   


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