White Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Sasha Stolz Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: this review discusses racism, white supremacy, and mental health.

When I finish a book, it may take some time for me to formulate my thoughts on it. This can be hours, days, or even weeks depending on the title. On average, it takes me a day or two to gather my thoughts on a particular novel. In the case of White by Aviva Rubin, this process lasted three weeks. I wanted my review to do it justice while still expressing my opinion. With much thought, I can say that it’s a powerful and layered novel about one woman’s fight against white supremacy.

White is about a woman determined to destroy the white supremacist system in Canada. Sarah Cartell grew up in a white supremacist family, controlled by her grandfather whose values and violence marks them all. But, when she befriends the town librarian, who shows her how those beliefs are full of lies, Sarah begins digging up everything she can about the people her family celebrates and her grandmother and aunt who left a long time ago. Determined to dismantle that system, she infiltrates a Neo-Nazi gang by beginning a tumultuous relationship with a skinhead that excites and confuses her. As Sarah races to stop hate crimes, her new friends are put in danger, and a horrific family secret begins to emerge. This unraveling lands her in the psychiatric ward and begs the question, can anyone escape the love of a hateful family unscathed?

This book is heavy, and I’m not just talking about the amount of pages it has. The content is weighty since it deals with one woman’s goal to destroy white supremacy in Canada and the psychological fallout. The framework is Sarah talking to a therapist at a mental health facility as she unpacks everything that led up to her entering the place. This is not a book for readers seeking out light-hearted stories.

The novel is labeled as “near historical fiction” because it takes place in the 1990s before the Oklahoma City bombing, but it mainly focuses on how Sarah tries to escape her hateful family, which feels timeless. What works about this conflict is how complicated it is. Obviously, many of her male relatives, especially her grandfather Thomas, are terrible, but there are scenes in which she bonds with them. For example, growing up, Thomas wanted Sarah to be a pastor in his Church of Purity despite the naysay from her brothers Keith and Blake. While he was a white supremacist and a controlling human being, Thomas still saw potential in Sarah. In addition, the reasons why Sarah’s grandmother and aunt left as well as why Sarah’s dad and the other aunt stayed are not as clear cut. 

And of course, the strongest element of this story is Sarah herself. She is a wonderful multi-layered character. She grew up in a hateful environment, but she didn’t realize that it was so until the town librarian Mrs. Broder – who’s Jewish –  educates her and opens up her mind. Because of this, she wants to expose the entire white supremacy system in Canada. However, it takes a toll on Sarah physically, mentally, and emotionally. When she’s at the progressive McGill University, she spends most of her time researching Aryan-based/Neo-Nazi groups instead doing work for her classes, and she barely eats. Moreover, she starts a relationship with a skinhead, which she has mixed feelings about. On one hand, he sometimes takes advantage of her. On the other hand, she feels excited to be in a relationship, where she feels important. Additionally, she keeps many of her friendships at an arm’s length not to hurt them. Even though they also want to dismantle the hateful system, her friends recognize how she’s becoming more self-destructive and try to help her out with little to no avail. I wanted to tell Sarah, “You have friends that care about you. Drop your work for now!”

Despite that, Sarah is such a compelling character that one can easily understand where she’s coming from, but still point out her flaws. She is also quite funny with certain observations. This allows the book to be not such a downer. By the end, one is not sure if she is going to be completely alright given how she was raised and what happened prior to her time at the mental health facility. But the novel offers a glimmer of hope that she might find her own happiness.

White by Aviva Rubin is a powerful tale about one woman’s escape from her white supremacist family and destroying the system in Canada. This novel is heavy with how it handles several topics with sensitivity and empathy. Many of Sarah’s male relatives are horrible, but their relationships with Sarah are far more complicated, which makes severing their bond more difficult. Above all, Sarah is a memorable character. She wants to do the right thing and feel important, but she ends up going down a self-destructive path. I recommend it to those who want to read books about white supremacy and social activism as well as coming of age stories about people who lived in messed up environments (ie Educated by Tara Westover). White is out now, so go grab it wherever you get your books.

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