Review: Creating a catalyst for change
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 14, 2012
Ariel Tachna's novel STOLEN MOMENTS tackles a difficult subject where the outcome could have gone either way. When a gay man is fearful of coming out and has the choice of giving up the man he loves or accepting the consequences of making their love public, the decision isn't as cut and dried as it appears.Jacob is a teacher. Beau is a judge. Either one or both could lose their careers if it becomes known in their southern communities that they are gay. Jacob has tried to make it work by meeting Beau discretely in private, but when Beau cancels their rendezvous one too many times, he decides the torment of being unable to be with his lover without worry isn't worth it. In an angry moment, Jacob has a quick affair with a woman who becomes pregnant, and does the honorable thing by marrying her and raising their son together. But Jacob not only still longs for Beau, he is passionately angry with him. When Beau calls and asks for a six month trial period to make their relationship work, Jacob actually agrees. Oh, no! Now he's cheating on his wife with Beau, but when he goes home to his wife and has sex with her he's cheating on Beau. This is a monumental catastrophe that can't end well for anyone.Or can it? Will Jacob forgive Beau? Will Beau come out of the closet once and for all? Will they lose their jobs if they do? Their savior is a surprising character, one whom I know well, having grown up among the privileged in the South.STOLEN MOMENTS is a lovingly crafted story of two men, caught in a difficult situation, who find that if they will be strong and allow those who want to help them do the right thing, they might come out of it together. I was pretty sure Jacob was up to the task but Beau seemed to be so weak in character that his ability to support Jacob, in every sense of the word, surprise and delighted me.I enjoyed the beautifully developed characters, both the good ones and the, if not bad, then at least disappointing ones. The secondary characters were as strongly drawn as Jacob and Beau. The morale of the tale is clearly shown by who stands up for what is right in the end, when the catalyst for change turns out to be a combination of one big sacrifice and one small invitation of acceptance.