M/M Month Guest Post Danielle from ALPHA Reader

Today I'd like to welcome one of my favorite bloggers: Danielle from ALPHA Reader. I asked Danielle if she would like to do a guest post for M/M Romance month, and she e-mailed back that she'd love to talk about Josh Lanyon's Adrian English series:

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Falling in Love Again

Hello Gentle Reader.
I'm going to tell you a story about a story. This is the story of how I popped my cherry with Adrien English. And when I say ‘popped my cherry’ I mean ‘read my first Male on Male homocentric romance’ and by Adrien English I mean the fictional character of Josh Lanyon’s immensely popular crime fiction series.

It was a momentous occasion for me, and one that changed the tides of my reading habits forever. . .

Let’s Call a Heart a Heart

Adrien English is a part-time novelist and bookshop owner of ‘Cloak and Dagger Books’, which is reputed to have the largest collection of gay and gothic whodunnits around. Adrien is thrust into the role of reluctant sleuth in first book, ‘Fatal Shadows’, when an employee and friend dies, leaving Adrien the main suspect. The death throws LAPD detective, Jake Riordan, into Adrien’s path and kick-starts his dubious crime-solving career that spans five books.

Adrien and Jake form an uneasy friendship, which grows into an unhealthy relationship. You see, Jake is a closeted homosexual, and reluctantly attracted to openly gay Adrien. Over the course of five books, from ‘Fatal Shadows’ through to ‘The Dark Tide’, Adrien’s association with Jake throws him unwittingly into the middle of murder investigations and real-life ‘whodunnits’. . . while Adrien and Jake’s love life also throws both men into a tail-spin. Adrien knows that Jake will never be comfortable with his sexuality, and for as long as he stays in the closet, Jake will hate himself for loving Adrien. . .

Josh Lanyon writes brutal love and callous murder in this epically noir murder-mystery series. A cross between Dashiell Hammett and ‘Queer as Folk’.

I Must Have that Man

I read vicariously. That is, I like to imagine myself as the heroine. Most people read thusly, even if they don’t consciously acknowledge it. If you’re frustrated with the believability of a character’s actions, chances are your problem is more that *you* can’t see *yourself* reacting that way. When I read books that have a male narrator (which is quite rare in the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance genre I frequent) I’ll ‘take on’ the role of whatever female the hero associates with.

So I never knew how I'd take to reading M/M. It’s hard for me to imagine myself a man, let alone a gay man. I went into ‘Adrien English’ with much (virginal) trepidation, but was quickly swept away by Josh Lanyon’s characterization and the infectious likability of his title character.

Adrien English is a fantastic leading man. He’s witty, a little bit goofy and utterly charming. He’s also not your typical gay lead. In fact, as a writer he pokes fun at the gay stereotype prevalent in current fiction. Adrien is not particularly suave – he eats cereal in his underwear while watching old Errol Flynn movies. The only stereotype Adrien maintains (much to his chagrin) is that of mama’s boy – but only because his eccentric society mother, Lisa, is still reluctant to cut the apron strings. Adrien is also unlucky in love, still nursing a broken heart after his ex, Mel, walked out on him years ago and he’s been celibate ever since. To top it all off, Adrien has had a heart murmur since he was sixteen years old – a condition which will most likely mean Adrien won’t live to see 50.

I connected with Adrien English on so many levels. On the one hand, I saw a lot of myself in him. This geeky bookworm who eats cereal in his underwear while watching old Errol Flynn movies. . . there’s something endearing about Adrien’s geekishness, coupled with Lanyon’s description of him as a Montgomery Clift look-alike. Adrien is at once totally inept and unknowingly charming. I loved him.

I also saw Adrien English as the gay best friend I always wanted. The (fictional) Will to my Grace. . . he has a very biting wit and self-deprecating humour that I found completely addictive and endearing.

But as well as connecting with Adrien’s book-nerd personality and wanting to be besties with him (fictional character or not) I was surprised by how viscerally I connected with Adrien’s romantic dilemmas.

His relationship with Jake Riordan is heartbreakingly and frustratingly relatable, regardless of them being two men. Everyone, at some point in their life and to varying degrees, has fallen for the wrong person. Someone who you know is wrong for you, who will break your heart and leave you irrevocably changed (and not necessarily for the better). That’s what Jake is to Adrien. . . and it takes a long time for readers (and Adrien) to realize that he has the same transforming impact on Jake.

I'm a Fool to Want You

Adrien and Jake’s relationship is the sticking point of the entire series. Adrien’s association with Jake is often the catalyst that throws him (reluctantly) into the middle of murder investigations. But Adrien’s love for the closeted Jake is also the catalyst for much of his heart’s discontent. Readers do have to slog through books in which Adrien is clearly hurting from his love for Jake – a man who cannot commit because he cannot admit to himself who he is.

I said, “You know what I think? I think you needed – wanted – to make a complete break.” I was able to say it without emotion maybe because I'd said it to him so many times in my imagination. “You hated yourself for being queer. I think you probably hate me too. Or did – when I was part of what you hated about yourself.”

- ‘Death of a Pirate King’

Adrien and Jake have a seemingly ‘doomed’ relationship. But Adrien, and readers, do read those moments in between the chaos and complexity. Those moments, however fleeting, when you realize that Jake and Adrien are meant to be. They are each other’s ‘happily ever after’;

He smelled like soap and sleep and bare skin. He smelled familiar. Not the déjà vu familiar of Guy or Mel. Familiar like the ache in your chest of homesickness, of longing for harbor after weeks of rough seas or craving a fire's warmth after snow, or wanting back something you should never have given away.

- 'The Dark Tide'

For those who haven’t had the joy of reading ‘Adrien English’, I won’t tell you whether or not Jake and Adrien do get their ‘happily ever after’. . . save to say, it’s a rocky ride.

The Masquerade is Over

I've always maintained that the ‘Adrien English’ series is not M/M erotica. . . it is, first and foremost, a mystery series (with a gay lead). And I think the reason it was so easy for me to fall into these books, and become comfortable in the M/M genre via Lanyon’s writing, is because I consider myself a mystery aficionado.

If I had popped by M/M cherry with a strictly and explicitly homoerotic novel I may have shied away from the entire sub-genre. But mystery I understand. . . and mystery, is Josh Lanyon’s forte. I was able to lose myself in his cloak and dagger writing; his prose that sounds gravelly and like it should be voiced-over by Humphrey Bogart. It was especially easy to lose myself in this series with an unknowingly dashing leading man like Adrien, and his complicated romance that left me vicariously heartbroken.

Too Marvelous for Words

Josh Lanyon’s ‘Adrien English’ series is noir perfection of Raymond Chandler proportions.

Words fail when I try to explain how much I love this series. I have gone back and re-read and cried again in all the same places and cheered Adrien on despite knowing the outcomes. I don’t even think of this as one of my favourite M/M series – it is simply one of my favourite series, ever.

M/M Guest Post: ALPHA Reader interviews Jay Bell, author of Something Like Summer

The lovely blogger, Danielle - ALPHA Reader, recently read the novel 'Something Like Summer', and she liked it so much that she decided to contact the author and ask some questions, then generously offered to showcase her interview here at Book Addict as part of M/M Romance Month!!!

Danielle, the floor is yours:

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Q: How long did it take you to write ‘Something Like Summer’ – from idea to finished manuscript?

Six to eight months seems to be my average to reach a completed first draft, but I believe SLS went a bit quicker since I was even more enthusiastic about the project than usual.

Q: So, ‘Something Like Summer’ is a very frank account of what it is to be a gay teenager. Everything from secret sleepover business to feelings of isolation is covered with honesty and tenderness. How much of the story is fiction and how much is autobiography that reflects your own life growing up as a gay teenager?

This is a very tricky question because SLS has so many yarns of truths tangled up in knots of fiction. A good example is when Ben’s poem is published in the school newspaper, but altered without his permission by the journalism teacher. This really did happen to me, except it wasn’t my super sexy boyfriend that trashed the darkroom with me but my best friend. The circumstances around me being caught were different too, and I took the blame out of fierce loyalty to our friendship and not because of love. This is the sort of twisted truth that frequently fills both the teen and adult portions of the story.

To complicate matters further, there are many truths in the book from other people’s lives. Ben and Tim weren’t the only ones to be caught having sex by the police, and I’m not talking about certain celebrity either. In this respect, Something Like Summer has its roots in truth but isn’t at all autobiographical. When I look at Ben’s life, I recognize the same feelings I had, but not the same events. Ben’s teen years are relatively calm compared to what I went through. Take the amount of trouble he gets into and multiply it by ten, and we wouldn’t even be halfway there.

Q: Gay fiction, particularly gay teen fiction, is notoriously hard to publish through conglomerate publishers. Is that why you decided to self-publish ‘Something Like Summer’ with CreateSpace?

My first novel, The Cat in the Cradle, was published through a small press and I found the experience extremely frustrating. I’m a control freak when it comes to my books. I want to chose how the type is laid out, the spacing of the margins, what the cover looks like, where and with whom the book is distributed… everything! The publisher was as accommodating as could reasonably be expected, but I still wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to see if I could do just as good or better on my own and I’m very proud of the end result.

I also realized that I didn’t feel like doing most of the work and sharing half the profits. Authors write the story, obviously, but these days are also expected to handle the majority of their book promotion. Since anyone can hire a cover artist and editor, this doesn’t leave much for the publishers to actually do. I can understand that learning typography or the ins and outs of publishing aren’t everyone’s forte, but if one is willing to put in the work, then there are many benefits to cutting out the middle man.

Q: Now, this must be asked (if only to keep hope alive!) – is Tim based on anyone from your life?

I try not to ever base characters on real people. I enjoy exploring my character’s faults, and few people are grateful for being publically exposed like that. So is there a Tim in my life? Not as such, but there might be a Jace.

Q: ‘Something Like Summer’ looks at the many aspects of being young and homosexual – Ben is ‘out’ and proud, but still struggling with loneliness and bullying. Tim, meanwhile, is in denial and firmly closeted. What do you hope your readers take away from both Tim and Ben’s approaches to their sexuality?

So many stories put readers in the driver’s seat of a closeted character, reminding them of the fear and anxiety that accompanies that state. Instead of doing this, I hoped that closeted readers would enjoy being Ben for a while, to experience being free of that burden while also seeing themselves from the outside. I wanted them to become frustrated with Tim, to realize how good his life could be if he would just take that leap of faith. At the same time, I wanted to ensure them that being closeted doesn’t make you a bad person, even if it might drive you make bad decisions. Even after all he puts Ben through, Tim is still worth loving. I think we can forgive him of his short comings because all of us, gay or straight, understand what it’s like to be scared.

Q: The novel begins in 1996, and it’s a very different world with regards to open homosexuality and acceptance. Do you think there’s a big difference between being a gay teenager in the 90’s and now? Would ‘Something Like Summer’ have been different if it started with Ben being a high school student in 2011?

I get a lot of letters from young gay people and the experiences sound very much the same. The biggest difference today is how high profile issues like gay marriage are, and how gay people and couples are being represented more and more in the media. The importance of this can’t be underestimated. I still remember the first time I ever saw a gay porn magazine, and being amazed that the guys inside weren’t leather daddies or drag queens. I honestly didn’t know that gay people could look just like anyone else. Thanks to the caricatures portrayed in films like Police Academy, my views were seriously skewed. I think that sort of naïveté isn’t as common today. Kids are growing up seeing a variety of gay characters on TV, and hopefully recognizing that their options are unlimited.

Q: I love the cover art of ‘Something Like Summer’! Did you do the artwork yourself?

No, the cover art is done by a ridiculously talented and handsome artist. His name escapes me at the moment, because I can’t stop thinking about how boyishly sweet his eyes are when he smiles, the way he moves his lips when he writes a letter, or the way he sings falsetto gibberish while taking a shower.

All right, all right, the artist’s name is Andreas and he’s my husband. Andreas has his own creative career, so being able to come together for book covers or the interior illustrations of The Cat in the Cradle has been very fulfilling for us both. Not as good as sex, mind you, but still pretty nice.

Q: Just from browsing your website and reading your blog, it sounds like you’re living a pretty romantic love story yourself. You moved to Germany to be with your husband (without knowing the language or anything?!)! Do you have any plans to turn your real-life romance into a novel?

Luckily, our relationship would be much too boring to make a good story. Conflict is what drives every plot forward and Andreas and I have had surprisingly little in our time together. However, I imagine that as time goes by, some aspects of our relationship will sneak their way into my stories, if they haven’t already.

Q: Do you read a lot of gay fiction? Who are some of your favourite LGBT authors and what are some of your favourite books?

I read a fair mix of gay and straight fiction. As for LGBT authors, I read all the usual suspects, but there are some names that don’t get mentioned enough. Chris Corkum’s “XOXO Hayden” really blew me away. The concept of a normal kid’s life becoming intertwined with that of a pop star sounds unrealistic, but he managed to make it completely believable and moving. I think this novel will be a hit if it ever comes out as a reasonably priced eBook.

I was late in discovering R.W. Day’s “A Strong and Sudden Thaw” but highly respect the novel’s class, heart, and especially the character voices. I was turning the pages of that one so fast that the book nearly caught fire.

Rick R. Reed hardly needs any introduction, but I think his novel “Orientation” deserves more love. The book's concept is original and the execution thrilling. I suspect it will one day be considered a classic and a must-read for the gay genre.

Q: What novels/short stories are you working on at the moment?

I have an upcoming short story called “Language Lessons” about an arrogant brat that thinks he’s too good for love. I expect it to be out in the spring if my dreadfully (ok, wonderfully) honest test readers stop giving me such a hard time about it. Later this year should see the release of my third full length novel, currently with the working title of “Purgatory,” which takes place entirely in the afterlife realms of different world religions. Here’s the blurb:

John Grey is dead… and that’s just the beginning of his problems.

Purgatory should have been a safe haven for souls that belong neither in Heaven nor Hell, but instead John finds himself in a corrupt prison, one bereft of freedom or pleasure. Along with his decedent friend Dante, John makes a brave escape from Purgatory only to fall straight down to Hell and into the arms of Rimmon, a handsome incubus. After succumbing to Rimmon’s charms, John is soon playing ambassador to Hell, visiting the afterlife realms of other cultures to recruit an army strong enough to stand against Heaven. As interesting as his new job is, John's mind keeps returning to Purgatory and the souls still trapped there. Somehow John must stop a war he doesn’t believe in and pull off the largest prison break in history, all while desperately trying to attract the attention of an incubus whose heart belongs to another.

Q: What advice do you have for any budding novelists?

Never give up. Do everything in your power to get your stories out there. If you can’t find an interested publisher or agent, I promise you that you’ll still find interested readers, and their opinion is the only one that matters.

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Many thanks to Danielle and Mr. Bell for a fabulous interview!!!

Jay Bell can be found here:
Blog: http://www.jaybellbooks.com/
Twitter: @JayBellBooks
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jaybellbooks

M/M Guest Review: ALPHA Reader reviews Something Like Summer by Jay Bell

Please give a warm welcome to Danielle (ALPHA Reader), who recently read and loved Something Like Summer by Jay Bell - she thought it would be perfect for M/M Romance Month, and offered me permission to post her review. Please make sure to come back this afternoon for her interview with the author, Jay Bell!

Something like Summer
~Jay Bell

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 581 KB
Language: English
ASIN: B004I6DKPY
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (January 8, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1453875042
ISBN-13: 978-1453875049

From the author's website:
Love, like everything in the universe, cannot be destroyed. But over time it can change.

The hot Texas nights were lonely for Ben before his heart began beating to the rhythm of two words; Tim Wyman. By all appearances, Tim had the perfect body and ideal life, but when a not-so-accidental collision brings them together, Ben discovers that the truth is rarely so simple. If winning Tim’s heart was an impossible quest, keeping it would prove even harder as family, society, and emotion threaten to tear them apart.

Something Like Summer is a love story spanning a decade and beyond as two boys discover what it means to be friends, lovers, and sometimes even enemies.

Benjamin Bentley came out of the closet when he was fourteen. His parents are loving and accepting, as is his best friend Allison. If only the same could be said of Ben’s classmates. Ever since Ben came out of the closet he has been the school piranha – bullied by the jocks, sneered at by the cheerleaders and even his teachers are wary of his open sexuality. It’s no surprise that Ben is the only ‘out’ teenager at his Houston school . . . and if he’s honest, he can’t ever imagine meeting someone and finally having a proper boyfriend.

And then Mr Blue Shoes runs by.

The summer before senior year Ben spots a new face around town. A tall, dark, handsome senior has just moved into the area and Ben is smitten. But then school starts and Tim Wyman (aka ‘Mr Blue Shoes’) turns out to be just like all the rest. He hangs with the jocks, starts dating the prettiest prom queen and wouldn’t look twice at Ben . . . until the day that Ben literally crashes into him.

What starts as friendship soon has Ben receiving his first kiss and desperately wishing that Tim would come out of the closet and into the open with him. But where Ben is happy being honest with himself, Tim is wary of his pious parents and becoming a school outcast. Tim is the love of Ben’s young life, but Ben doesn’t want to be anyone’s dirty secret and their affair ends on a sour note. . .

Skip ahead four years and Ben is studying in Chicago when he meets Jace. Jace is a twenty-six-year-old air steward who makes Ben’s head spin. Until Jace, Ben was still hung up on Tim and what could have been. But Jace makes him forget, and pretty soon the pair fall madly in love and dream of a romantic Parisian holiday together. And then Ben bumps into Tim, again. Tim, who is now openly gay and desperate for a do-over with the one that got away.

‘Something Like Summer’ is an M/M romance from Jay Bell. The book opens in Houston, Texas in 1996 and follows Ben and Tim’s various encounters up until the year 2008.

I loved this novel. It was a very tender and true examination of first love and second chances, while also being a very earnest examination of young gay love.

Tim and Ben are each other’s high school sweethearts. But their story is vastly different from the typical heterosexual tale of first love. Usually when a boy and girl embark on first love in high school the romance has an expiration date – it will run its course and end through nobody’s fault but moving away for college or simply outgrowing each other. But it’s different for gay teenagers, Ben and Tim especially. Ben and Tim’s high school romance didn’t get to run its course . . . their affair came to an abrupt and painful end because Tim was unwilling to admit his feelings for Ben and be open about his sexuality. In other words, their relationship didn’t die of natural causes, and as a result both men spend the next twelve years wondering “what if?” It’s the sort of pondering that could send a person insane. Always second-guessing and wondering if you let ‘the one’ get away simply because you (or they) weren’t brave enough to admit to that love. This is not the sort of dilemma typical young heterosexual couples ever have to go through.

I loved how Jay Bell spanned this love story over yearly intervals. We meet Tim and Ben when they are teenagers – and as a reader, you can see Ben’s heartache coming a mile away. I was reading that first stretch of time with my heart in my throat – because Ben was adorable and vulnerable. He felt like he’d found a life-raft in Tim, someone to love and understand him . . . unfortunately, Tim was scared. It’s understandable, but I still felt for Ben and for the unfair predicament that being gay in high school put both boys through. Remember, this novel is set in 1996. There’s no ‘Will and Grace’ and certainly no Kurt Hummel ballads on ‘Glee’.

“Pff,” came the reply. “Please. This is a 3000GT!”

“Right.” Ben risked a glance over to see Tim wearing an expression of mock offense.

“What kind of guy doesn’t know his cars?” Tim pushed.

“I’ll give you three guesses,” Ben said evenly.

Tim was silent for a moment. “So it’s true?”

Ben let a slow smile play over his face. He loved this part. It always felt like revealing to a disbeliever that he had magical powers or something. “Yup.”

“Hmmm.”

That took Ben off guard, since it wasn’t the usual response. Normally, one of two things would happen. The guy would either play it off like he wasn’t surprised and name some random gay uncle or somebody else he barely knew to show that he was both worldly and accepting of such things, or he would slide straight into being offensive. Tim had done neither and opted for a musing “hmmm.” Whatever that meant.

I was thrilled when Ben met Jace. Jace, who was uncomplicated, honest and thoroughly infatuated with Ben. Though Ben has been out of the closet for years, Jace marks his first really mature relationship and I loved reading about Ben finally finding happiness. And then Tim reappears – now openly gay and in hot pursuit of Ben. If Jay Bell hadn’t written such a tempting character in young Tim, I may have been annoyed by his reappearance and interrupting of Ben and Jace’s blissful happiness. But Bell’s woven back-story for these men coupled with the undercurrents of lust and longing, mean that it’s impossible to begrudge Ben his continued yearning. I never knew who Ben would end up with . . . or who I wanted him to be with. Jace, who was always so honest and loving. Or Tim, who clearly needed Ben’s redemptive love. Jay Bell writes a perplexing love triangle that’s as frustrating as it is titillating.

A good portion of ‘Something Like Summer’ is written from Ben’s perspective as a senior in high school. But then the novel jumps ahead to eventually end with Ben in his early thirties. There are a few sex scenes and constant lusting throughout – but I would still recommend this book to young adult readers. Especially young gay readers.

The novel is very honest about what it is to be a gay teenager – both ‘out’ and closeted. Aside from some very stark frankness about what young boys get up to at sleepovers, Jay Bell also explores the many facets of being young and gay (without ever sounding like a preachy Lifetime channel movie).

Quite a lot of young adult gay romances feature a young person who has yet to come out and admit their homosexuality. In a lot of these novels, you get the impression that coming out is the be all and end all – the magic solution to every problem in a gay teenagers’ life. Not the case, as Ben illustrates. Ben is a very well-adjusted young man; he became open about his sexuality at a young age and he is very comfortable with who he is. He has very supportive parents and an amazing best friend. But none of these things equate to an easy time for Ben. He still gets picked on at school. He has no avenues for meeting like-minded gay teenagers. For all of his openness and honesty, Ben is still quite lonely.

Meanwhile, Tim is at the opposite end of the spectrum – gay, but unwilling to admit it. He’s scared of his parent’s wrath and damaged social status.

I appreciated the fact that Jay Bell told both sides to the gay story. I can’t say that either has a happy high school ending, or that Jay Bell is prescribing one course of action over the other . . . I think it’s just more likely that high school is hard for everyone. Nobody really knows who they are and everyone just wants to fit in and not be ostracized.

‘Something Like Summer’ is amazing. Aside from an awesome 90’s soundtrack (seriously, everything from Beck to Lauryn Hill is mentioned!) Jay Bell has written one of the most heart-felt and sincere M/M romances I have ever encountered. This is a love story that spans twelve years – a story all about getting a second chance with ‘the one that got away’.

Danielle's Rating:

Book Discussion with ALPHA Reader: The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

From the author's website:
Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget parents who leave and friends he used to care about and a string of one-night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

But when his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at the Union pub with his former friends. And winds up living with his grieving father again. And remembers how he abandoned Tara Finke two years ago, after his uncle’s death.

And in a year when everything's broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them.

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Several months ago, I read two reviews by Danielle at ALPHA Reader that piqued my interest: Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son, both by Melina Marchetta. (Her reviews are here and here)

I don't remember how it came about, but she sent me Saving Francesca, which I loved (my review here). I tried to get my hands on the follow-up, The Piper's Son, but it's not available in the US until March 2011, so Danielle graciously sent me her copy.

All I can say is: Wow, freakin' fantastic! I really liked The Piper's Son - I was so involved in Tom's life, it was hard to separate and put the book down. I had a few questions about the book, and they turned into a joint squeefest between Danielle and myself. Once we'd gone back and forth, we both realized how long it was - there is so much in this book to talk about!

Book Addict: First of all, I love the cover! I don't know why but it speaks to me. Also, the graphics at each chapter - I know it's superficial, but I feel like they emphasize how much of a mess Tom's life is. And he certainly is a mess. His mother and sister moved out b/c his father is an alcoholic. Then his father left. He's living in some crappy apartment with "not really" friends, until he comes home from an evening in the hospital and sees his stuff all over the lawn. He turns to his aunt for shelter.

ALPHA Reader: Funny you should mention the cover-art. . . Naomi over at inkcrush recently posted the Aussie/US cover comparisons and revealed that the cover is actually a photo of Australian musician, Pete Murray. It’s a cast-off photo from his album photo-shoot. And it’s quite funny because now that I think about it Pete Murrary is sort of how I pictured Tom. . . that very manly Aussie bloke, with a tender heart underneath it all. A lot of Pete Murrary’s songs could be a soundtrack to ‘The Piper’s Son’ too, like his song ‘So Beautiful’ (about Tara Finke?)

‘So Beautiful’ lyrics:
God my fingers burn,
Now when I think of touching your hair
You have changed so much that I don't know,
If I can call you, and tell you I care
And I would love to bring you down,
Plant your feet back on the ground

BA: Oh, wow, I checked out the covers and I definitely like the Aussie cover better! I’m not familiar with Pete Murray but looking at the pics I could see Tom as a young Pete Murray. And yes, that song totally fits his relationship with Tara.

BA: His Aunt Georgie is...I don't know what to say about her. On the one hand, she's a mess too. She can't get past the deaths of her brother and father. She can't get past the fact that her significant other had a fling while they were "on a break" that resulted in a child. She seems otherwise normal, but the relationship with Sam was painful to read.

AR: I was very sceptical about Georgie when I first started reading. Marchetta has never written from an ‘adult’ perspective, yet Georgia is 42 and I really didn’t know how she fit into a young adult book. . . I should really learn to have more faith in Ms. Marchetta. By the end of the book I was thinking that Georgie was an inspired and brilliant character. Yes, she’s 42, but she doesn’t have her life together. . . in fact, her life is as much in shambles as Tom’s. I think Georgie is a sort of sign-post for Marchetta’s young audience, a hint that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean getting wiser. . . and that’s okay. Mistakes are going to be made, it’s how you correct them that matters.

BA: I can tell you from reading this book as a 40-year-old woman that was one of the things I did like about how Georgie was written is that she wasn’t perfect and put together and had a wonderful life. My life is not like that and I resent when authors suggest that at some point in your 20’s everything just clicks and you get your HEA.

AR: I think both Tom and Georgie are living in the fallout of their mistakes. Georgia had a one-night-stand with her ex that resulted in her getting pregnant. At any time over the last few months she could have had an abortion, discussed adoption etc, etc. But instead Georgie just sort of lets things fester. She doesn’t broach the subject with her family or with Sam. She sort of hopes that ignoring the problem will make it go away until she’s eight-months along and has to start getting proactive and making decisions.

Tom, meanwhile, has pulled farther and farther away from his friends until he wakes up one day and realizes that he has all but lost them. He could have picked up the phone, or accepted their kindness, but instead he chose to ignore and distance himself. And when the book begins, he suddenly finds that he needs the support of those friends he let fall by the wayside.

BA: I was so surprised to read that he had pulled away from his friends. In Saving Francesca, the kids seemed to be there for each other, and I wanted to know where things had gone wrong.
I found lack of communication to be a constant through the book. I did find it a bit frustrating at times. Tom’s Mom/Dad, Tom/his Father, Georgie/Sam, Tom/Tara – come on people – talk to each other!!!

AR: The lack of communication and general ‘walking on eggshells’ was hard for me to read. I hate awkward silences, and given half a chance I will address the elephant in the room. . . but you’re right, this is a book full of what’s not said. And it’s made all the more frustrating because we get Tom and Georgie’s inner monologues, but never the satisfaction of having them *say* what they *think*. Grr! But to be honest, that’s more realistic. It’s actually very rare for people to wear their heart on their sleeve and deliver long, revealing diatribes. . . still, frustrating!

Both Georgie and Tom are procrastinators and avoiders, and Marchetta explores what happens to both of them when they have to wake up and take responsibility for their actions.

BA: This aspect of the story made me a bit crazy – I wanted to shake them both and say “open your eyes and your mouth and do something!”

AR: Georgie and Sam’s relationship was painful. I found myself squirming in my seat throughout their tension-filled scenes. Most of my discomfort was simply because Georgie *thought* things but never said them. Grr! Throughout the book Georgie wants to ask Sam about the woman he had an affair with. . . she wants to ask him if he wants their baby. But she doesn’t. Although, all that built-up tension made for a great release and monologue from Sam (page 275: “Ask me if getting you pregnant has felt like the best thing that’s happened to me since my son was born?”)

BA: Oh! That monologue from Sam brought tears to my eyes – it was so moving.

AR: As frustrating as Sam and Georgie were. . . I felt like Marchetta offered up a very rich and fulfilling storyline for them. Dare I say, Georgie could have had a book all to herself? I loved how complicated their history was – because Sam had a son from cheating on Georgie, he can’t offer her a completely honest “I’m sorry” and “I regret” for his cheating. Wow. That right there is enough emotional tension to fill a contemporary romance book! I sort of hope that Georgie’s presence in ‘Piper’s’ is an indication that Marchetta may go into adult books one day. . .

BA: Georgie was a little too passive for me to be in love with her; it seemed to me she let things happen instead of making them happen. I was frustrated by that.

BA: I don't know if this book was written with an Australian audience in mind or just set in Australia, either way, I loved it! Honestly, at first it felt a bit disjointed and I was wondering if it was actually set in England and I just thought it was set in Australia...I figured it out eventually :) I think that was because of the family obsession with his uncle's death. Tom's dead grandfather and uncle were a huge part of the story - the family didn't get a body back for either death and therefore didn't have real closure. I see in your review where their lives were turned into "before London" and "after London", and I can kind of relate to that, as here in N.O. things are "before Katrina" and "after Katrina".

AR: I think it’s great that you were unsure about the setting! Because that is a theme in all of Marchetta’s books – multiculturalism. Australia is a melting pot – it’s a cliché, but true. My family is Austrian and English, I’m third generation Aussie. Marchetta herself is proud of her Italian heritage. . . and in fact, her first novel ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ is all about a young girl coping with being third generation Italian and juggling her Nonna (grandma’s) traditions and her want to break free.

And then there’s the fact that Australian’s are prone to ‘walkabout’. We have such close ties to England that it’s very common for Aussie’s to take jobs in the UK and live there for a few years. We have so many English ex-pats living in Australia, and so many families were founded by ‘Ten Pound Poms’ (which refers to the influx of British people who moved to Australia after WWII. . . for the price of ten pounds passage). And that’s also why Australia was really rocked by the London bombings, because England is so much a part of us. . .

I think that’s a very true comparison between London and Katrina. I think Marchetta makes the point, throughout the book, that a nation is brought together by tragedy. . . in the past decade we’ve experienced such huge historic events and nations have banded together around them. Just look at the New Zealand mining disaster. . . it becomes a country’s mourning, a shared heartache. I loved that Marchetta explored that with both Vietnam and London, and illustrated the repercussions these historic events have on current generations.

BA: I didn't know any of that history about Australia. American's think of ourselves as living in the"Melting Pot", but I see that Australia is like that too.

BA: Back to Tom - I love him. Maybe because I'm the mother of a teenage son? I want to take him home with me and feed him and give him a stable home life. He's a good kid - evidenced by the fact that he takes the job at the Diner to pay for the money his roommates stole. He’s got a lot of issues to work though though; I was glad to see Frankie and Josephine (from Saving Francesca) in this book.

AR: I don’t know how she did it, but Marchetta kept Tom endearing. There were a few times there when he could have come across as an idiotic no-hoper. But I was always rooting for Tom. I always knew that he wasn’t living up to his potential and that there was a heart of gold underneath that slacker facade. I think it was his caring for Georgie, and his secret heartache for Tara Finke and the fact that you could see he was affected by his dad’s leaving and alcoholism, even when he tried to hide it. God love him, Tom was adorable.

BA: Tom is such a tarnished hero. I loved that even though he managed to get himself into a bad situation, he was able to accept help where it was offered, work hard even when he didn’t visualize a positive outcome, and come out on top.

BA: Tara Finke - what can I say about Tara? Aaaarrggghhh - I have a lot to say about her but can't find the words.

AR: I love that Tara didn’t take any of Tom’s crap. Yes, he was going through a hard time, but that didn’t excuse his behaviour towards her and his friends. . . and she never let him forget it. She kept him on his toes. You could see why he fell so hard for her, and why all those nameless one-night-stands couldn’t hold a candle to what he had with Tara. I also loved the way that Francesca kept feeding Tom information about Tara and her Brazilian boyfriend. LOL! Way to be a wing-woman, Francesca.

BA: You know, he kind of had her on a pedestal, and until he realized that he was worthy of being loved he wasn’t ready for her. Unlike his family, Tara made him express himself and I love her for that. The e-mails back and forth were wonderful, as Tom opened up more and let her see inside himself. And yes, even though Tom kept messing with Francesca and Will, Francesca didn’t lose faith and was an awesome wing-woman!

BA: The Piper’s Son was dark at the beginning but as Tom worked through things it got lighter, more witty and hopeful.

AR: I think of that Stereophonics album, ‘You Gotta Go There to Come Back’. That’s what Marchetta does with ‘Piper’s Son’ – she goes to the dark places, she lets her characters hit rock bottom. . . so that their redemption is all the sweeter. She is master at this, and I love her for it.

BA: Oh, yes, I noted that the Piper's Son was a reference to Tom's dad's gift of oration. I have mixed feelings on that. I didn't care for his dad much.

AR: I appreciated that his dad was like Tom and Georgie, in that he had made mistakes and when we meet him he is living in the fall-out and trying to regroup. But it was frustrating. . . my heart broke when Tom went to the AA meeting, and learnt of the trigger that made his dad get sober (he couldn’t remember Tom’s name when a stranger asked him who was in the picture in his wallet. OMIGOD! I cried so hard!).

BA: See, whether Tom forgives his father or not, I couldn’t forgive him. I think that’s a testament to Ms. Marchetta’s superb writing that she brings out such strong reactions in me as a reader.


Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Candlewick
U.S. Release Date: March 8, 2011
ISBN-10: 0763647586
ISBN-13: 978-0763647582

Thank you Danielle for stopping by, and also for introducing me to Ms. Marchetta's work - she's a fabulous writer and I'm looking forward to reading more!

My Rating: