The Devil in Silver

Rating: 4.5/5 Newspaper Clippings

The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle is a beautiful and heartbreaking story that takes readers on an emotional rollercoaster (in the best possible way). The story is told from the perspective of Pepper, a man who is arrested for fighting and sent to a psychiatric hospital. He expects to only be there for a few days as he isn’t mentally ill. But somehow, the days become weeks.

When Pepper first arrives at New Hyde’s psychiatric hospital, he is greeted by an older woman named Dorry (who looks like Estelle Getty in my mind). She insists on greeting all newcomers so they see a friendly face first. Pepper’s roommate is an African man named Coffee who greets Pepper by asking for change for the payphone. Loochie, a strong teenage girl, also becomes one of Pepper’s “friends.” (I put it in quotation marks because Pepper probably wouldn’t have befriended them outside of the hospital.)

Despite not being mentally ill, Pepper is given medication that messes with his brain and knocks him out. Not long after arriving at New Hyde, Pepper meets the Devil. There’s no other way to describe this monstrous creature who drops in from the ceiling and clearly means Pepper harm. After asking about it, it’s clear the other patients know about the Devil.

The Devil in Silver is certainly a horror novel, but it isn’t your standard monster story; LaValle grapples with questions of race, mental illness, power and privilege. Pepper finds himself thinking he’s not like “those other people” at the hospital as he’s sane, and he struggles with understanding why he otherizes his friends. Certain plot points mirror events that are in the spotlight now. (Sorry for being so vague, but I’m avoiding spoilers!)

The most moving element in the book was the part about Van Gogh. Pepper reads a book of Van Gogh’s letters, and he looks at the parallels between Van Gogh and New Hyde residents. LaValle makes readers critically examine whose lives society celebrates and whose legacies are just a few lines in an obituary.

The Devil in Silver is a horror novel, but it also makes readers reflect on our privilege. It breaks our hearts but then patches them up with little sprinkles of hope and optimism.