NO SPOILERS

James Baldwin has quickly risen to become my favorite author of all time. I am someone who does not read romance books and actively refrains from reading books where the plot is solely on a romantic relationship. However, Baldwin’s writing style is very attractive to me. He has the ability to make someone fall in love with just the way he describes a room.

Giovanni’s Room is about an American named David, engaged to a faceless woman determined to “find herself” in Spain. Much like his fiancee, David uses every excuse to stay in their respective foregin country, delaying the marriage for months, although neither will admit it. As David starts to decline into debt he seeks help from his friend at a gay bar when he meets an Italian bartender whose childish emphaticness is in direct contradiction to the pessimistic American. David struggles with self- acceptance, denying to both himself and Giovanni of ever having feelings with a man before. This eats at him during the relationship as he feels both pleasure and shame at once. Throughout the book there is an impending doom, a clock counting down the days when David’s fiancée will eventually return to finalize the marriage, and David withholds this from Giovanni. Although this relationship was destined to turn tragic, they can’t help but becoming intertwined. Giovanni’s Room is about guilt, self-acceptance, and love.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.