I had to wait a few days before I started writing these lines. I had never read anything like this before, yet I have always been an avid reader. Beyond the characterization of the characters I really enjoyed the work of their creation and their reality. Jay and Loren are two of us, albeit with different histories, but realistic, real. Mrsgnomie constructed two realities that he wanted to bring together. He combined fate and will: fate brought Jay and Loren together, but their will led them to the ending and the beginning of their lives together.
The exploration of both protagonists' lives and the addition of other characters as the story unfolds makes it all three-dimensional. The story leaps off the pages and becomes almost an everyday parallel to your life. The skill with which Mrsgnomie stitches it all together is truly extraordinary. The deep desire of both protagonists to become fathers - albeit with Loren's reticence, albeit increasingly weak - I think engages all readers, gay, straight or whatever. Children are a constant presence in the story, testifying to the couple's desire to leave the future a testament to themselves and their lives.
Loren redeems his terrible childhood by building a world of economic and work security around him, into which Jay fits at first with difficulty. Jay comes from an affluent family and testifies to a life of love, affection, and respect. The incontro-scontro between the two - albeit in the slow growth of a deep love - becomes a journey, a return to the beginning of their lives to rebuild new paths of understanding and to establish the foundations of a solid bond.
Love in itself is simple. Not simple is cultivating it, protecting it and growing it solid and secure. Jay and Loren teach that we all need to communicate, to be heard and respected, and to be welcomed and loved for who we are.
Please read it.
Tanks Mrsgnomie