HBO's Lovecraft Country has proven to be one of the most dynamic and challenging shows in its first season on HBO. The series leverages the pulp and genre aspects of adventure and horror fiction and combines them - often clashes them - with the sober reality of American history. Along the way, the show makes numerous changes from the original Matt Ruff novel to create this unique style.
The show follows the book in large measure, with a vignette style that allows it to explore different corners of its universe. There are some pretty big changes from the source material though, especially with some of the most important characters.
Christina Braithwaite Was A Man
One of the biggest twists of the season (so far) is the fact that Christina Braithwaite is in fact also William. This shocking (and gruesome!) reveal is built off another change from the book.
In the novel, Christina is a man named Caleb Braithwaite. She undergoes no such transformation in the book and as such, her story in the show is completely different. This change allows her an extraordinary opportunity - if a complicated one - to become one of the series' most fascinating characters, existing at the intersection of gender, race, and class.
William Was Made For The Show
A consequence of the change in Christina's character is William, or the lack thereof. William doesn't exist at all in the book mostly because Christina is already a man to begin with. The show definitely benefitted from the change in her character, allowing it to build a complex mystery that it teased from the jump.
The William/Christina dynamic also unfolds nicely - if disturbingly - into the story of Ruby. Their experiences and their aims are vastly different, but the degree of their ambition might be similar enough to make them both dangerous (and compelling).
Dee Was A Boy
Similar to William, Diana Freeman doesn't exist in the novel Lovecraft Country, but not exactly in the way one would expect. In the book, she's a boy named Horace. Many of the details are the same though.
For one, both love comic books. Dee is much more established as a budding artist though, and the show spends a nice amount of time showing her talent, especially in episode one. Horace isn't friends with a boy named Bobo (more on him in a minute) in the book either but does end up the victim of a curse of Captain Lancaster.
Geroge Freeman Doesn't Die
One of the most shocking events of the season occurred at the end of the second episode. George Freeman dies in the arms of (and maybe at the hands of) his brother Montrose. George doesn't die at all in the book and his story in the television series is completely different as a result.
George's story is far from over, as the series has shown, and there is much more mystery about his death and life to be resolved. It's possible that given the hints and suggestions, George is actually Atticus' father and not Montrose as everyone believes.
The Show Has More Historical References
The real life death of Emmett Till plays a major role in the eighth episode of the series. Emmett has been introduced back in episode three as Bobo, a friend of Dee's. His death casts a long shadow over the series but doesn't have any connection to the book.
The show has been much more ambitious in tying into the actual historical reality of the '50s than the book was. This is seen in numerous other references to major events in African-American history like the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, which was also featured in the HBO series Watchmen.
Ruby Is More Ambitious
Ruby Baptiste featured in one of the show's most visually horrifying and thematically challenging episodes to date. That being said, much of her character is an invention of the show.
Ruby is extroverted, a singer and dancer, and ambitious. In the book, she's the exact opposite. She has no designs on scoring a gig at Marshall Field's and works menial jobs without ever making a huge impression in the story. Her transformation into a white woman plays a key role in the book, but it plays out very differently.
The Characters' Family Names Are Different
There are big changes between Lovecraft Country the novel and the series. There are a number of smaller ones, too, and a lot of these miniscule changes have to do with the character's names. The biggest change has to do with the family name of Atticus Freeman. His last name in the book is Turner.
This has ripple effects in the names of George and Montrose, who are only half-brothers in the book. George Freeman is George Berry, but now he's a Freeman. Another change is Leti's last name. In the book, she's Letitia Dandridge and in the show, it's Lewis.
Montrose Was Less Troubled
Montrose is one of the most fascinating and complex characters in the show. His violent tendencies, secretive behavior, and uncertain connection to the magical past of his family all make for a compelling character. Virtually none of it exists in the book, though.
In the novel, Montrose does not have a familiarity with the dark magic of the Braithwaite family. His sexual identity is also different, with his struggle with being gay being completely unique to the series.
Everything That Happens In Leti's House
The third episode throws a huge curveball for fans of the show and the book. The show seems to burn through a season's worth of story in the first two episodes and then settles into a seemingly unrelated haunted house story.
The house Leti buys in a white neighborhood in Chicago does have roots in the book, but much of the events of the episode don't occur in printed form. Another big change is that in the book, Leti befriends the spirit of the former homeowner, Hiram Epstein, instead of banishing him.
There's No Ji-Ah
One of the biggest differences between the show and the book has to do with the character of Ji-Ah. In the book, she doesn't exist at all. It's hard to imagine the show without her, especially with her episode-long showcase that took fans back to Atticus' time in the Korean War.
Her story is not just a compelling exploration of Korean mythology in the form of the kumiho, but a loving tribute to Hollywood musicals as well. The Korean War is only briefly referenced in the book, which gives no opportunity for a character like Ji-Ah to emerge even in a cameo.