González and Daughter Trucking Co. started out fairly unassuming for me, but WOW was it building to something special. Incarcerated in a women’s prison in Mexico, Libertad is encouraged by a fellow inmate to share her story, but she can’t find her way to the telling until she opens a random book and begins to “read.” Thus the Library Club is born, and in a play on Scheherazade’s one thousand and one nights, Libertad unfolds her life story (under the guise of fiction) in weekly installments for an eager audience of fellow inmates. Born and raised on the road, Libertad’s only connection is with her over-protective father, who’s deep seated paranoia over a frightening experience in his past keeps him changing his name and never settling down. The Library Club allows Libertad to unpack and grapple with the generational trauma handed down from her father, as she knits together the narrative of her life.⁣
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The way Libertad (and truly Escandón) reveals details is a masterclass in storytelling, and the “literary license” employed creates extremely satisfying ambiguity. I also loved the sort of mixed-media format, which intersperses conversations from the prison and the road, and snippets of Libertad’s diary into the two main narrative arcs. Libertad is a tremendous character, and I fell so in love with her over the course of this novel, a rare book I could definitely see myself reading again. I just can not recommend this book highly enough, please go read it!⁣
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Cw for violent misogyny, violence and deaths.