The Librarian of Burned Books: A Novel

Althea undergoes the most dynamic change of all the central characters, an arc which is symbolically reflected in the names of her first and second novels: The Unfractured Light and the parallel An Inconceivable Dark. She begins as a plain, bookish young woman barely out of her teenage years who has found herself in a whirlwind of fame. Despite her literary success, she acts as an “everyman” character archetype. Althea compares herself on several occasions to Lewis Carroll’s Alice, a protagonist similarity dropped into a magical and unfamiliar world.

Initially, Althea sees the world through the lens of simplistic, fairy-tale storytelling. She uses it as both a tool of understanding and, conversely, a buffer against the harsher realities of the world. She finds it difficult to see good and evil as a spectrum, particularly when it comes to her own willful ignorance. At the beginning of the novel, Althea marches with a parade of celebrants who are honoring Hitler’s rise to power. She does this with a limited knowledge of what the man represents, as well as a need to connect with her German heritage.

In doing so, she briefly and elatedly finds a place where she can belong: “She had expected to feel like Alice dumped in Wonderland, everything slightly skewed and upside down, wrong side out. Instead, Althea couldn’t shake the idea that her old life had been the distorted one” (50). It’s this intoxicating sense of belonging that makes it so difficult for her to renounce the actions of her hosts and fellow celebrants. She feels an undeniable kinship with them, and so to admit that they are the enemy of knowledge and progress would be to become that enemy herself. As she acknowledges later, “‘No one wants to be the villain of the book’” (184).

With this new understanding comes a new sense of courage in which she is able to embrace her feelings for Hannah. However, this act of courage is only given a brief space to be explored before several layers of betrayal separate the two for several years. When Althea meets Viv years later, she is so guarded that she won’t even hold a conversation. Slowly, she begins to feel a sense of renewal and hope that ultimately leads her to the final event in which she speaks out against the monsters of her past for the first time. This act of redemption helps secure the future of the Armed Services Editions and reunites her with her lost love.

Vivian Childs, or Viv, is an outlier in the triad of protagonists because her story is set roughly a decade in the future, and she doesn’t intersect with Hannah and Althea’s narratives until towards the end of the novel. Instead, her journey is one of navigating being a recent war widow, reconnecting with her first love, and becoming a political champion against The Dangers of Censorship and Oppression. As a result, her story is slightly more episodic but still highlights several of the novel’s key themes.

The novel opens in Viv’s perspective as she receives Edward’s final letter and manages the recent revelation of his death. This sets her up to be one of countless women sharing a similar traumatic experience during this time, lending a universality to her role. Later, it is clarified that what Viv lost was not her true love but a deep and powerful friendship.

Viv is passionate about literature and reading, and the role literature plays in fostering human connection. Like Althea, she draws inspiration from books to strengthen herself in times of crisis; however, where Althea looks to fairy-tale heroes and villains, Viv tries to embody the “femme fatale” aesthetic of the latest bestselling thriller novel. This distinguishes the two women while illuminating their shared need for storytelling. Viv carries this love of stories through her journey and uses it as a driving force as she pursues her “vendetta” against Senator Taft.

This goal is never far from her mind, even when her path detours from her driving thread. For example, she sets her goal aside briefly to spend a day with the young soldier she calls “Georgia,” yet sees him through the lens of a similar young soldier who benefited from the ASEs program before his death. It’s only when Viv joins a neighborhood baseball game, where hope and life become the only things that matter, that she is able to set aside her obsession for a brief period of time to enjoy the practice of living.

By the end of her story, Viv achieves two victories: She plays an integral role in securing the future of the Armed Services Editions, ensuring that stories will continue bringing people together and increasing literacy; and she begins a new life with her first love, giving both her and Hale a second chance at happiness as they move into the future.

Deveraux, or Dev, is a high-profile actress and screenwriter whose confidence and worldliness act as a foil to Althea’s innocence and inexperience. Although the two of them are both recent arrivals and invites of the same exchange program, Deveraux acts as a mentor figure who introduces Althea to cosmopolitan Berlin life. She represents a confident, high-society manifestation of the person Althea aspires to be. When Hannah and Adam’s friends voice their mistrust of Althea, it’s Deveraux who steps in and argues that it’s “Never too late” to embrace the truth (184).

Despite her taste for luxury and her apparent flightiness, Deveraux is driven by her mission of standing against her oppressors. This guiding objective leads her to push the boundaries of morality, including offering Adam Brecht’s life to help secure her position and entering into physical relationships with Nazi officers. When confronted by Hannah in the face of her betrayal, Deveraux shows compassion but not remorse; she understands Hannah’s pain but sees her own actions as justifiable and necessary in light of the wider conflicts at play. She is ruthless and single-minded, both traits that make her a valuable and calculating ally in the subversive battle against Hitler.