THE GOLDIES

In Karl’s novel, a group of LGBTQ+ friends reunite for their 50th high school reunion.

Frankie organizes a 50-year high school reunion and reaches out to LGBTQ+ classmates. Trick and Rick, a married couple, reminisce about the difficulties they faced growing up gay. The narrative then shifts focus to Marcus, who reflects on the challenges he faced as one of the few Black students; he has since become a financially struggling social worker, and his high school experiences still affect him. Johnny D. struggles with the decision to attend the reunion due to traumatic memories of being bullied. A chapter about Andy describes his adventures hitchhiking across the country and his carefree attitude toward sex and relationships. Marcus and Frankie begin to gather information about their former classmates for the reunion. Frankie organizes the group to create a performance for the reunion to celebrate their authentic selves; conflict arises when the group receives a threatening anonymous message warning against their planned show. Despite this, the group is undeterred. Overall, Karl excels in creating characters with emotional complexity and deep backstories. However, the primary source of drama seems limited to an outburst by a homophobic straight couple, Jesús and Clarita. This sets the stakes low for the climactic moment of the novel, as the trouble is quickly and unsatisfyingly resolved. (Jesús strikes his wife, who then leaves, and he immediately apologizes: “I want to apologize for this...I want to assure you that my wife will be fine. I never wanted anyone to see us acting like this. I’ll deal with all that later.”) Still, the tale is heartwarming, though readers should be aware that, while the story is wholesome, there are plentiful sexually explicit passages, particularly in the first chapter.

A moving story that celebrates the authentic identities of LGBTQ+ people into their golden years.