Review: a sombre fairytale
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2012
Other reviewers have pointed out much that is relevant to a story which might be short (40 pages?) but is deeply satisfying, and yet they failed to point out what I deem to be its greatest charm.Set in a gloomy New York in the thirties, it does not exactly avoid the bleakness of that times but it sort of skips over it. The most unsavoury facets of those harsh years are just hinted at, as if in passing. When Peter and Whit meet in a squallid dosshouse, Ms Allen choses not linger on the poor surroundings but lets her reader marvel with them at the excitement of an unexpected encounter and at the fascination that slowly takes over Whit's mind as he discovers the mysterious stranger.The two leads are not working class: Whit might have been in the past but he has made a name for himself afterwards and is clearly educated.I do not know whether this lightness of touch was intentional or whether Ms Allen knew she lacked the skills needed to make a gloomier tone interesting for the reader. It does not matter either.I only know that by suffusing her story with a hope that is realistic without being prosaic she managed a heartwarming fairytale in the form of a M/M romance between a despondent, disheartened but kind prince charming down on his luck and a sweet, scruffy knight in ink blotted armour. There are no villains here: all side characters have redeeming qualities to them and a happy ending of sorts is achieved without a single word sounding sappy.The language is neat, never being in the way of a story filled with passion but nearly devoid of graphic sex which happens, of course, but is never indulged upon: a good thing as the little that there is on the page is not exactly memorable.Characterization is finely developed and so are the intimacy and trust between two leads; as a side note one could point out that they seem to be able to truly find themselves only AFTER having found each other which is subtle indeed.After so many disappointing reads I shall cherish the opportunity of rereading this fairyta... ehm... work sometime in the future.