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A review by katykelly
Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out by Ryan Love
5.0
Smile-inducing, uplifting dual Coming Out family story.
Those in the UK reading this might be reminded of a fairly recent TV presenter when seeing Arthur - who comes out to his family unexpectedly, after a lifetime in a happy marriage, with children and community shocked.
And while it crossed my mind, and made me sad for both the fictional and real lives this story encompasses, my heart was also with them both. For their own reasons, people hide their real selves. And in their own time, maybe they can manage to scrape together the courage to reveal who they really are, with - fingers crossed - acceptance and love the result.
Arthur is 79 when he and his wife Madeleine sit down their adult children to announce that Arthur is in fact gay. Daughter Elizabeth is upset, forbidding her children from speaking to their grandfather. But Teddy is far from upset himself, as he too has been holding onto the same secret, avoiding coming out to Elizabeth after the death of his dad and now even more worried how she'll react.
Teddy's own story, that of the intern at his mother's newspaper, vying with another young man for assignments, respect and ultimately a job, competes with the plotline of him and his granddad both coming to terms with their own selves and their place in the world.
Both men's stories are equally enjoyable. Senior online dating. First love. Lost love. Unrequited love. Council meetings. But mostly various loves. It was wonderful to see caring and supportive familial relationships between the generations and coming out stories for such different characters with different histories.
For those enjoying this, I would also recommend Matt Cain's The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle.
Ryan Love gives this family story the warmth and humour it needs, and it's a feel-good tale that I was sorry to see end but glad to see end as it did.
It's never too late to be yourself.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
Those in the UK reading this might be reminded of a fairly recent TV presenter when seeing Arthur - who comes out to his family unexpectedly, after a lifetime in a happy marriage, with children and community shocked.
And while it crossed my mind, and made me sad for both the fictional and real lives this story encompasses, my heart was also with them both. For their own reasons, people hide their real selves. And in their own time, maybe they can manage to scrape together the courage to reveal who they really are, with - fingers crossed - acceptance and love the result.
Arthur is 79 when he and his wife Madeleine sit down their adult children to announce that Arthur is in fact gay. Daughter Elizabeth is upset, forbidding her children from speaking to their grandfather. But Teddy is far from upset himself, as he too has been holding onto the same secret, avoiding coming out to Elizabeth after the death of his dad and now even more worried how she'll react.
Teddy's own story, that of the intern at his mother's newspaper, vying with another young man for assignments, respect and ultimately a job, competes with the plotline of him and his granddad both coming to terms with their own selves and their place in the world.
Both men's stories are equally enjoyable. Senior online dating. First love. Lost love. Unrequited love. Council meetings. But mostly various loves. It was wonderful to see caring and supportive familial relationships between the generations and coming out stories for such different characters with different histories.
For those enjoying this, I would also recommend Matt Cain's The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle.
Ryan Love gives this family story the warmth and humour it needs, and it's a feel-good tale that I was sorry to see end but glad to see end as it did.
It's never too late to be yourself.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.