Review: Shaking The Sugar Tree by Nick Wilgus
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
Shaking The Sugar Tree is a heartfelt humorous novel about a man, his son, and the love they share between them and with their family. Engaging narrative sprinkled with southern colloquialisms paints a realistic portrait of the life in the rural south. Wilgus touches on such themes as prejudice, bigotry, ignorance, family, pride, and the tenacious hold religion can have on a person.  He doesn’t climb on a soap box and lecture the reader. Rather, he uses antidotes and emotional scenes to guide us through Wiley’s life and show us first hand what Wiley deals with as a gay man and a single father on a daily basis. While a straight man would be praised for his efforts, Wiley is condemned because no one can seem to look past his sexual orientation. Heavily character driven, the people we encounter all affect Wiley in some form or fashion. Some lift him up while others try to bring him down. Wiley is expected to fail at every avenue and his journey is filled with both joy and sorrow.  Though the story started off clunky for me; I was initially put off by Wiley’s continuous need for one liners, it soon smooths itself out and I was hooked to the end.