Review: An Auspicious Debut
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 30, 2014
This book was a rather marvelous surprise. I didn't know of the author, and only discovered, from the bio at the end of the book, that it is, apparently, her first gay-themed novel and that most of the rest of her work was primarily historical fiction.What an auspicious debut!This book was extraordinarily well-written. There wasn't a chapter, page or paragraph that bogged down, the characters were very engaging, and her love for the ciity of Portland, OR beams from every page.It is the story of two men, both beautiful, good men -  except that one of them is deep in the closet, terrified his father or the law firm where he is climbing the ranks will discover that he is gay. Because of that, he treats his beloved Mark like his nasty secret (as Mark puts it, in the book, his "whore") except when they're alone together.The weight of the closet and his endlessly disapproving father drives Andrew to the edge of despair and he ends up telling Mark to leave.I don't want to give away any spoilers, so let's leave it that the rest of the book is about Andrew's journey to become his own man, and the journey of both men back to each other.It's a rather lovely story, poignant and moving, at times. But what distinguishes this book is the artistry of its author. She has deftly woven together deeper themes, using bridges as a metaphor, and the poetry of Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman - which adds depth and beauty to what, in other hands, might have been a rather mundane book. In addition, she manages to skillfully weave in the history of Stonewall while offering the entire work as a powerful defense of Marriage Equality.I hope Ms. Allard will continue to write books in the M/M genre. she really, really has a knack for them. This is just my kind of book!