A road trip can always provide a fascinating background for any story, but when that road trip involves a children’s librarian kinda, sorta kidnapping her most eager customer, the story takes on even more life.

That’s the background of “The Borrower,” the fantastic debut novel from Rebecca Makkai, published earlier this year. I’ll let you find out the exact circumstances which bring together Lucy Hull and Ian Drake because I can’t recommend the book highly enough.

Suffice to say, neither Hull nor Ian know where they want to go. They just know they need to go. This wanderlust brings the unlikely pair close together as we learn that pretty much everyone has doubts about where they are headed,  either literally or metaphorically.

Makkai draws very complete characters from Hull, who pretty much ends up working in a Missouri library as an accident, to secondary figures like the colorful Russians who enable her quest and the eclectic neighbors who make her begin to embrace the notion of life outside the stacks.

Young Ian, however, serves as the fulcrum for the escapade. The very modern question of sexuality and individuality have blind-sided the inquisitive pre-teen. His only outlet is the library, but even that hangs in the balance thanks to his overbearing mother. Lucy finds herself unwilling in the middle of this struggle, leading to a journey she, Ian and the reader will never forget.

“The Borrower” has received a number of plaudits and awards, deservedly so. I can’t wait to read more from Makkai. I also hope someone has the sense to try and turn The Borrower into a film.

As an aside, this book marked my first attempt at borrowing something from the library using my Kindle. The process went pretty smoothly, with one exception. I could not finish the book within the two-week loan (my fault – too busy). However, the file doesn’t disappear from your device unless you turn on the wireless. That allowed me to finish the book at my leisure as long as I had nothing pressing I needed to download. Just a little trick in case you’re interested.