A well-argued but mostly unengaging story about the difficulties of being an openly gay Mormon.
A devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must reconcile his sexual orientation with his faith in McFarlan’s debut novel.
Nephi Willard isn’t just a Mormon; he’s a model Mormon who was born and raised in Utah’s Happy Valley: “Nephi was the kind of Mormon that other Mormons admire. He had never tasted coffee, tea, or alcohol, which are forbidden by the Word of Wisdom, and wasn’t even tempted to do so….He had never broken the law of chastity and despite being thirty years of age, had only ever kissed one girl.” He served two years as a missionary in Alabama and is currently the executive secretary to his ward’s bishop—an unpaid position to which he was “called.” But Nephi faces a major complication regarding his religion: He’s attracted to men. Although being gay is not, in itself, seen as a sin in the eyes of the church, acting on it is. The celibate Nephi doesn’t understand why God would make him a certain way and also deem that way to be sinful. He hopes that the church may one day change its stance on the matter, but his bishop warns him not to speak of such things. After they have a discussion about the topic, the bishop releases Nephi from his calling as his secretary and temporarily bans him from attending temple services. Nephi is so frustrated by his treatment that he throws caution to the wind and decides to try dating men. After a difficult first date with a man who isn’t interested in someone who refuses to kiss, he meets Alex, a patient person who’s willing to help Nephi—whom Alex calls a “thirty-year-old baby gay”—figure things out. However, Nephi soon realizes that his religious beliefs are as much a part of him as his sexual orientation.
McFarlan’s novel does an impressive job of laying out the stakes of being a gay Mormon—particularly one who continues to devoutly follow his religion after coming to terms with his sexuality. The book appears to be aimed at members of the faith, as Nephi routinely has theological and historical discussions that seem specifically geared toward persuading adherents who are uncomfortable with LGBT relationships. In its didacticism, it is indeed convincing; as fiction, however, it ends up being a bit dry. Nephi is a noble but fairly wooden protagonist, and McFarlan’s prose style suffers from an expositional flatness: “Even though Utah is an at-will employment state and employers can fire employees at any time for any reason, Nephi had to document all conversations carefully for HR and legal.” The book also takes a while to get started, partly because the author includes a good deal of superfluous material; for example, whenever the characters pray, which is not an infrequent occurrence, the entire prayer is rendered in the text. Things pick up after Alex appears in the story, but even then, the plot holds few relatively few surprises.
A well-argued but mostly unengaging story about the difficulties of being an openly gay Mormon.Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73417-940-8
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An angry, powerful book seething with love and outrage for a community too often stereotyped or ignored.
Inspired by David Copperfield, Kingsolver crafts a 21st-century coming-of-age story set in America’s hard-pressed rural South.
It’s not necessary to have read Dickens’ famous novel to appreciate Kingsolver’s absorbing tale, but those who have will savor the tough-minded changes she rings on his Victorian sentimentality while affirming his stinging critique of a heartless society. Our soon-to-be orphaned narrator’s mother is a substance-abusing teenage single mom who checks out via OD on his 11th birthday, and Demon’s cynical, wised-up voice is light-years removed from David Copperfield’s earnest tone. Yet readers also see the yearning for love and wells of compassion hidden beneath his self-protective exterior. Like pretty much everyone else in Lee County, Virginia, hollowed out economically by the coal and tobacco industries, he sees himself as someone with no prospects and little worth. One of Kingsolver’s major themes, hit a little too insistently, is the contempt felt by participants in the modern capitalist economy for those rooted in older ways of life. More nuanced and emotionally engaging is Demon’s fierce attachment to his home ground, a place where he is known and supported, tested to the breaking point as the opiate epidemic engulfs it. Kingsolver’s ferocious indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, angrily stated by a local girl who has become a nurse, is in the best Dickensian tradition, and Demon gives a harrowing account of his descent into addiction with his beloved Dori (as naïve as Dickens’ Dora in her own screwed-up way). Does knowledge offer a way out of this sinkhole? A committed teacher tries to enlighten Demon’s seventh grade class about how the resource-rich countryside was pillaged and abandoned, but Kingsolver doesn’t air-brush his students’ dismissal of this history or the prejudice encountered by this African American outsider and his White wife. She is an art teacher who guides Demon toward self-expression, just as his friend Tommy provokes his dawning understanding of how their world has been shaped by outside forces and what he might be able to do about it.
An angry, powerful book seething with love and outrage for a community too often stereotyped or ignored.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-325-1922
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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