Since March 2022, the State of Florida has allowed several thousand Books to be withdrawn from circulation (more than 10,000 according to the Pen America association, until September 2024!) which, according to the most conservative Americans, may present a danger to the young audience. Among these books, which are no longer offered in libraries, arethe Journal d’Anne Franck, Beloved by Toni Morrison, 1984 de George Orwell, The Catcher in the Heart by J.D. Salinger, Sa Majesty of the flies de William Golding, The Scarlet Handmaid by Margaret Atwood or The Kites of Kabul by Khaled Hosseini. Other conservative states have decided to follow Florida’s example, such as Iowa, Texas and Missouri.
This is the starting point of Marc Levy’s new novel, The Bookstore of Banned Bookswhich appears this Tuesday, November 19, 2024 by Robert Laffont. There we discover Mitch, a solitary bookstore who promoted numerous censored books, before and after his five-year imprisonment. Eager for revenge against the judge who convicted him, he falls in love with Anna, back in town after rebuilding her life abroad. These two survivors, also passionate about literature and reading, touched the writer’s heart. During his visit to France, the man who lives in New York took us behind the scenes of the creation of this committed love story.
How was born The Bookstore of Banned Books ?
Its genesis is this paradox of book censorship, recounted in the novel, and which is a subject which is becoming topical again. In the name of so-called freedom, some governments censor works that deal with subjects that disturb them. Above all, I wanted to talk about the power of books to bring us together and, perhaps, help us feel less alone. It’s a novel about the magic of books and reading.
Your novel is inspired by an American law which allows books to be censored for young audiences. As a writer, how did you react when you discovered it?
Unsurprisingly…and with dismay. Unsurprisingly, because authoritarians have always attacked culture; people short of arguments attack culture. Extremist movements have always had this leitmotif: create fear, find culprits, point the finger at them and present themselves as saviors of society before eliminating the designated culprits. And nothing scares them more than having intelligent, cultured or informed voters. This is the tragedy of America today, where the poison of hatred has continued to be distilled for several years.
By reading Toni Morrison, we are inevitably aware of racism and xenophobia in the United States. But, like her texts, feminist novels are also censored because they do not want women to free themselves. This war waged against literature is taking on considerable proportions across the Atlantic.
Also discover:Margaret Atwood releases non-flammable version of “The Handmaid’s Tale” to respond to censorship
Can we therefore qualify The Bookstore of Banned Books engaged?
I don’t want to present it as a fighting book because most people, to be very honest, don’t want to join a fight. This only happens when something touches them. The notion of resistance is scary. This is why I present this novel as what it is: a romance novel… which also makes you want to resist!
Precisely, Mitch and Anna fall in love, pushed towards each other thanks to their love of literature…
Their love story was born very spontaneously. They both ultimately share jobs: she is a chef, he is a bookseller. This desire to share with others defines and characterizes them! When I create fictional characters, they come into my life and I end up really loving them. But I didn’t have anyone in mind when imagining them, even if there is always a bit of the author, in places, in a character. Not always masculine, moreover, thanks to this freedom to travel without barriers and a priori ! [Il rit.]
Mitch’s bookstore plays a central role in this novel. It is a place of resistance, confidences, flirtation and reunions. Is this how you imagine your ideal bookstore?
Exactly ! I think bookstores should really be meeting places. There is no more beautiful place to do this, even if only by looking at the books that the other person has in their hand. And there’s no point in lying: by picking up a book you don’t like, just for the sake of it, you’re setting yourself up for a very long lie. [Il rit.] It’s such an intimacy to see someone choose a book, see them turn the pages, see how they react… This is also the case on public transport: these people laughing to themselves, or the tears in their eyes, who take out a handkerchief in the middle of a metro train… It’s wonderful to see people reading books there.
