WARNING: Major spoilers for Lovecraft Country season 1 ahead
Lovecraft Country on HBO starts by following Matt Ruff's novel of the same name pretty closely, but it doesn't take long for the show to veer into uncharted territory. While there are many differences between the book and the show, the show mostly takes concepts from the book and expands upon them, creating a richer world with a more satisfying conclusion by the end of season 1.
Matt Ruff's novel, Lovecraft Country (2016), is written as eight interconnected stories. They tell the tale of Atticus and his family as they discover more about their family history and the existence of magic. Each section or chapter is a stand-alone short story. Because of this, the book is much more subtle; there isn't a larger story arc that brings everything together at the end like in the show.
In HBO's Lovecraft Country, many of the elements and mysteries from the novel are used as inspiration for the events that unfold, but the overall story is much stronger. The show follows Atticus and Leticia as they learn about their family's past and about magic and how to use it. The story is held together by the intentions of Christina Braithwhite, who needs Atticus and his family to achieve her immortality spell. Events that unfold in the show are far more dramatic than in the book, coming together as a complete story while leaving the characters open for a second season. The biggest differences between the show and the book are outlined below.
Genderswapping The Main Villian
The first two episodes of Lovecraft Country on HBO are fairly close to the book, with the exception of Caleb Braithwhite being genderswapped to Christina Braithwhite. By doing this, this show adds an extra layer to the story and makes the main villain more sympathetic to her Black cousins, as she has had to deal with her own discrimination for being a woman. It also makes her relationship with Ruby later in the show an interesting one, adding a lot of complexity to the narrative that's not in the book.
The Winthrop House
In both the show and the book, Leti receives a mysterious inheritance and uses it to buy the Winthrop house in a white neighborhood. In the show, the house is haunted by its previous owner, Hiram Epstein, and the ghosts of his victims. In the book, the ghost of Hiram Winthrop lives in the house, at first trying to get Leti to leave, but eventually befriending Leti so they can both live in the house in peace.
The Importance Of The Book Of Names
In Matt Ruff's novel, the Book of Names is featured only in the third story. Caleb Braithwhite blackmails Montrose and George (who doesn't die in the book) to break into the natural history museum to retrieve it. In the show, a similar scene plays out in episode 4, "A History of Violence", but with Atticus, Leti, and Montrose. The show adds the discovery of Yahima, who was trapped by Titus Braithwhite in the underground vault. That episode concludes with Montrose murdering Yahima so that they can't tell Atticus any more about magic.
In the book, Caleb Braithwhite gets the Book of Names and life goes on. In the show, the Book of Names is a powerful spellbook that Christina wants. However, Atticus's mother stole it and kept it hidden in the family until Leti, along with Atticus and Montrose, use Hiram Winthrop's multiverse machine to travel back to 1921 to retrieve it. Later, they use the book to try to stop Christina from casting her immortality spell.
Hippolyta's Adventures
The multiverse machine that Hippolyta discovers while she is trying to find out what happened to her husband, George, becomes a major part of the show. In the book, Hippolyta uses it to travel to a white sandy beach where she discovers several people who have been trapped there. The show takes her much further, enabling her to name who she wants to be and live that life. She first becomes a dancer with Josephine Baker in 1920 France, then a Dahomey Amazon warrior, before returning to George and deciding to be herself again. Because of her adventure, she learns a lot and becomes extremely intelligent.
Ji-Ah The Fox Spirit
While it is mentioned in the book that Atticus has returned home from serving in the Korean War, there are no flashback scenes in the novel. Lovecraft Country on HBO dedicates episode 6, "Meet Me in Daegu", to Ji-Ah, a young woman who is studying to be a nurse in 1949. She is a Kumiho, a fox spirit that has taken over the body of the young woman, and will only free her after she has killed 100 men. She meets Atticus, at first wanting to kill him as revenge for him killing her friend, but then falls in love with him. She later comes to America in the present time and plays an important role in defeating Christina.
Ruby And Christina's Relationship
In the Lovecraft Country book, Ruby is approached by Caleb Braithwhite to have her attend meetings with different sorcerer lodges around the country. To do this, he gives her a potion that turns her into a red-headed white woman. Later, she discovers that the potion is made from the blood of a woman Caleb keeps in a coma, and says she wants nothing to do with it anymore, but can't bring herself to leave. The story ends with Ruby torn between leaving and staying with Caleb.
On HBO, the show takes things much further by giving Ruby the freedom to get the job she's always wanted by becoming a white woman. She explores parts of Chicago she never could before, and discovers that she'd rather not be a white woman. She also finds out that the white man named William who has given her the potion is actually Christina in disguise. Despite this, she continues to have a relationship with her, even encouraging her to succeed with her immortality spell. However, in the end, she tries to steal something from Christina to help her family foil the immortality spell, and Christina kills her for it.
How The Conclusions Are Different
In the last couple of episodes, the show travels far from the original narrative in the book. Because of the short story nature of Matt Ruff's novel, it concludes with a story about how Atticus uses the magic he's learned to prevent him from entering certain places and from using magic. They then tie him up and dump him in Indiana. They drive away and the novel ends.
For the show, the writers bring everything together from previous episodes. For starters, Atticus finds that the book, Lovecraft Country, was written by his son. Then, the finale centers around the family attempting to stop Christina from casting her immortality spell that will kill Atticus in the process. They try to harness a spell from the Book of Names to cause the spell to fail, but Christina finds out about their plans from Ruby. After killing Ruby, she enlists the help of the citizens of Ardham to stop Atticus's family. Christina drains Tic's blood and becomes immortal, but Ji-Ah intervenes and the family is able to take away her magic completely.
Another interesting thing that happens in the show that's never featured in the book is the curse that two white policemen put on Diana, Hippolyta's daughter. The curse plays on Diana's fears and creates Topsy and Bopsy, who pursue her and eventually almost kill her. The family is able to use spells from the Book of Names to cure her, but her arm is left whithered and useless. Fortunately, Hippolyta uses her newfound intelligence to create a robotic arm for Diana. In the final scene of Lovecraft Country season 1, Diana approaches Christina—who is trapped under some fallen rocks—and uses her robotic arm to kill her. She is accompanied by a shoggoth who is protecting her. It's an open ending that completes the story, but still leaves room for a potential season 2, which is yet to be green-lit by HBO as of this writing.