Wir alle brauchen eine Madeleine in unserem Leben - eine Person, die immer zu uns hält und immer an uns glaubt, egal was kommt. Both times someone comes out to her, she manages to make it so totally about herself it’s almost impressive.

CW: Suicide, threat of murder, homophobia, gaslighting, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, death of a parent, physical abuse, cancer, addiction, grief, abandonment of a child, abandonment of an elder. I honestly don’t have enough words to describe how deeply problematic his romantic arc was, so I will just say that the three boys were all as horribly gaslighty as each other and they all deserve each other. He’s clearly falling behind Teddy — who, by the way, doesn’t even seem to want the job he’s been given — and he feels he needs to do something to get back on track. His grandson, Teddy, is also gay but doesn’t feel ready to come out due to the reactions following his grandfather’s coming out. Madeline and Arthur’s relationship was especially beautiful and I loved how they’d been through so much together.It jumps between Arthur, a 79 year old grandfather who has just come out to his family, and his grandson Teddy, who is also gay and struggling to find his place in the World. Which, anyone who's ever had to keep a household running knows that that's a full-time job even with the kids long out of the house, so when does this almost 80-year-old woman sleep?

Anyway, they set aside this animosity eventually and start dating, at which point, the real travesty happens. Ich glaube, dass sich viele queere Menschen in diesem Buch und in den Geschichten von Arthur und Teddy wiederfinden können. Deshalb würde ich das Buch übrigens auch allen Menschen empfehlen, die sich nicht als queer identifizieren, aber sich vielleicht mehr damit beschäftigen möchten, wie das Leben als queere Person unter anderem aussehen kann. It just shows how harsh a world we can live in but that there are those that are supportive and kind too.Natürlich gibt auch hier und da großes Drama und den ein oder anderen Plottwist, aber am Ende steht Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out für ganz viele Emotion, für Verständnis für einander und für den festen Glauben an die Liebe, mag sie auch platonisch sein. I loved the way Shakeel’s presence bubbles along so that he helps define Teddy in the reader’s mind. Teddy in particular gets quite a confused ending where it feels like the book just ran out of space. I can't think of any other story I've read with a coming out story for a character of his age, but it's one that needed to be told.