WHEN YOU CALL MY NAME

In 1990 Manhattan the paths of two young men intertwine.

Eighteen-year-old Ben, fashionable and repressed, is forced to live with his doctor brother, Gil, when his mother kicks him out after discovering that he’s gay. It’s there that he meets Gil’s girlfriend, Rebecca, an up-and-coming magazine and fashion photographer who understands him and nurtures his gifts. It’s also where he keeps seeing Adam, a 17-year-old who’s facing the horrors of the AIDS epidemic for the first time. Adam’s boyfriend, Callum, a smart, passionate musician with dreams of conducting, is HIV-positive, and his illness has progressed enough that it’s impacting his life. Adam fights to be a good boyfriend, to be responsible, and to keep Callum in his life until the end. Callum’s death ultimately brings Ben and Adam together, but the story is not just about their connection; it’s about the history of New York and the people who fought and coped, loved and lost, died and survived during the years when an HIV diagnosis was a death sentence. The novel is a love letter to this time and place and to the people of Manhattan. It masterfully pulls at the heartstrings, but logical readers may notice some inconsistencies, particularly in the portrayals of Adam’s alternately attentive and distant parents. Still, this is a touching and beautiful story that comes close to touching the stars. All main characters read as White.

A heartfelt reminder of a beautiful and terrible time in history.