Landry Park by Bethany Hagen (review)

At seventeen, Madeline Landry is heir to Landry Park, the wealthiest estate in what remains of the United States in a dystopian future and part of the legacy of her ancestor, Jacob Landry, who invented the nuclear-powered lantern that eventually put an end to the twenty-first century energy crisis. The invention of the lantern also brought about a newly structured society, with the elite gentry hoarding power and governing the other classes, including the Rootless, the impoverished people who handle the nuclear materials needed to keep the lanterns going. Madeline is supposed to be busying herself with efforts to land a suitable husband, but lately, she’s plagued with doubts regarding the superiority of the gentry and their need to govern the Rootless with cruelty and abuse. The appearance of David Dana, a wealthy playboy who leads a double life as a Rootless sympathizer and organizer, complicates matters, and soon Madeline finds herself the keeper of secrets that could destroy both her home and her society. The dystopian world here, containing an ironfisted upper class lording over a weaker population, is by now a familiar one in YA lit, but it’s the upper-class perspective of Madeline’s narration that makes this a compelling, thoughtful look at the structuring of power and what it takes to dismantle it. Hagen manages to humanize the elite without absolving them, focusing on Madeline and David as they struggle to make the choice between a comfortable life and a comfortable conscience; especially moving is their ultimate realization that merely providing resources to the Rootless while enjoying the fruits of their diseased labor is the worst kind of charity. Heated debates and similarly heated kisses fuel Madeline and David’s will-they/won’t-they relationship, tempering the social commentary with a bit of romantic drama.