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A review by _mery98_
Endless Stretch of Blue by Riley Hart
4.0
4.3/5
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ― Thomas Campbell
“We understand death only after it has placed its hands on someone we love.”– Anne L. de Stael
What an unexpected book. A book about loss, family, grief, acceptance!
Enzo Moretti is a good Italian boy. He comes home to ‘sauce’ every weekend with his family and does his best. He’s a successful carpenter who builds beautiful cabinets, but he can never please his family. His older brother Ricky is the apple of his parents’ eye and Enzo knows he’ll never be good enough. He tries, but the fact he isn’t settled down with a nice girl and making good Italian babies is a constant cause of strife with his mother. Enzo’s a good guy, to be sure. Just not as ‘perfect’ as his brother.
Damon Blackwell has a successful career as a hospital administrator. He is a dutiful brother and son. His sister Katie is a little on the wild side, but Damon is always there to rescue her from scrapes. His mother is sick, so he’s always there to ensure she has the best care. He does his best but it never quite feels good enough because so much of his life is not under his control.
Both men face the worst night of their lives. They were there when the club caught on fire. They both lost someone they love. They both have to continue on, living with the ever-present guilt. Living with the ‘what if’. Haven’t we all done that? Maybe not lost someone so tragically and devastatingly, but done something that had unforeseen consequences where something bad happened. Then had to live with always wondering if you had just done something different – driven a different route or called someone at the right time – that tragedy might not have struck.
But life’s not like that. You don’t get a do-over. You have to learn to live with the pain.
And so, day after day, Enzo and Damon continue on with their lives. They go to work. They attend their parents. And they don’t really deal with what is hurting them the most. Oh they put on a good show, but they’re just shadows of their former selves. Until one night when they meet fortuitously. They spend some time together before they realize they share something deep and painful. They part and it seems like there’s an end to it, but fate brings them together again.
This book is very much a gay-for-you story. Neither man has been in any kind of relationship with another man before – never even looked at a guy. Certainly never considered dating one. And a physical relationship? I would have at least wigged them out to think about it. Yet something works between the two of them. And it’s not just the shared grief – although that’s part of it. It’s that they’ve both been lonely. Both are seeking someone they can take care of and love. Sometimes in relationships one person takes on the caregiver role and occasionally it falls to Damon, but Enzo is just as supportive. As time passes, there is real caring there. Even love.
This is a special book in so many ways. It’s a simple story. Aside from the family and a couple of close friends, the story really centers around the two men. It’s a very intimate story. The bulk of the book is just time spent by the two men alone. Exploring and testing the concept of moving on. Not forgetting, of course, but of finding a way to live with the grief and guilt. This is a hopeful story. Somehow simple in its execution yet oceans-deep in its emotion.
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ― Thomas Campbell
“We understand death only after it has placed its hands on someone we love.”– Anne L. de Stael
What an unexpected book. A book about loss, family, grief, acceptance!
Enzo Moretti is a good Italian boy. He comes home to ‘sauce’ every weekend with his family and does his best. He’s a successful carpenter who builds beautiful cabinets, but he can never please his family. His older brother Ricky is the apple of his parents’ eye and Enzo knows he’ll never be good enough. He tries, but the fact he isn’t settled down with a nice girl and making good Italian babies is a constant cause of strife with his mother. Enzo’s a good guy, to be sure. Just not as ‘perfect’ as his brother.
Damon Blackwell has a successful career as a hospital administrator. He is a dutiful brother and son. His sister Katie is a little on the wild side, but Damon is always there to rescue her from scrapes. His mother is sick, so he’s always there to ensure she has the best care. He does his best but it never quite feels good enough because so much of his life is not under his control.
Both men face the worst night of their lives. They were there when the club caught on fire. They both lost someone they love. They both have to continue on, living with the ever-present guilt. Living with the ‘what if’. Haven’t we all done that? Maybe not lost someone so tragically and devastatingly, but done something that had unforeseen consequences where something bad happened. Then had to live with always wondering if you had just done something different – driven a different route or called someone at the right time – that tragedy might not have struck.
But life’s not like that. You don’t get a do-over. You have to learn to live with the pain.
And so, day after day, Enzo and Damon continue on with their lives. They go to work. They attend their parents. And they don’t really deal with what is hurting them the most. Oh they put on a good show, but they’re just shadows of their former selves. Until one night when they meet fortuitously. They spend some time together before they realize they share something deep and painful. They part and it seems like there’s an end to it, but fate brings them together again.
This book is very much a gay-for-you story. Neither man has been in any kind of relationship with another man before – never even looked at a guy. Certainly never considered dating one. And a physical relationship? I would have at least wigged them out to think about it. Yet something works between the two of them. And it’s not just the shared grief – although that’s part of it. It’s that they’ve both been lonely. Both are seeking someone they can take care of and love. Sometimes in relationships one person takes on the caregiver role and occasionally it falls to Damon, but Enzo is just as supportive. As time passes, there is real caring there. Even love.
This is a special book in so many ways. It’s a simple story. Aside from the family and a couple of close friends, the story really centers around the two men. It’s a very intimate story. The bulk of the book is just time spent by the two men alone. Exploring and testing the concept of moving on. Not forgetting, of course, but of finding a way to live with the grief and guilt. This is a hopeful story. Somehow simple in its execution yet oceans-deep in its emotion.