appalonia's review
4.0
Warning ** Mild spoilers, hint of ending **
A story about loneliness, growing old, and how guilt can shape a life. It's also about the simple joys of friendship and family, and seeking redemption.
Sam Brady is a sad and lonely 65-year old gay man deeply in the closet and haunted by the death of a childhood friend. His recently widowed neighbor Arthur befriends Sam and succeeds in dragging him to a cooking class for bachelors. When Arthur's troubled granddaughter comes to live with him, she and Sam connect in a way she is unable to connect with Arthur. Slowly Sam starts to come out of his shell, as his new friends push him into more social activities.
His brother Cal, who never approved of Sam's sexual orientation, comes to visit and reconcile with his brother after years of separation. But Cal brings more trouble with him than anyone expects, and violence mars the ending of this sweet, sad novel. For a literary novel this book was a real page-turner.
A story about loneliness, growing old, and how guilt can shape a life. It's also about the simple joys of friendship and family, and seeking redemption.
Sam Brady is a sad and lonely 65-year old gay man deeply in the closet and haunted by the death of a childhood friend. His recently widowed neighbor Arthur befriends Sam and succeeds in dragging him to a cooking class for bachelors. When Arthur's troubled granddaughter comes to live with him, she and Sam connect in a way she is unable to connect with Arthur. Slowly Sam starts to come out of his shell, as his new friends push him into more social activities.
His brother Cal, who never approved of Sam's sexual orientation, comes to visit and reconcile with his brother after years of separation. But Cal brings more trouble with him than anyone expects, and violence mars the ending of this sweet, sad novel. For a literary novel this book was a real page-turner.
amielizabeth's review
2.0
Lee Martin's "Bright Forever" is one of my all-time favorite books, and I was so looking forward to reading this one! It fell far short of my expectations. Martin's writing is subtle and evocative, but the plot? Sort of a murder mystery, with homeland terrorism, lots of dead people...I wasn't compelled by it, but pushed through to the end by speed-reading. He used kind of a tired plot: old man finds new life when young, vivacious teenage girl moves in...I rated it as "ok" because I like his writing so much. Much of the book felt really forced.
sonyahu's review
5.0
Something about this book felt very, very close to the Midwest I know, something I haven't felt in almost any fiction I've read. Martin writes from a centering sensibility that lends true dignity and hearts to the lives portrayed.
rcollins1701's review against another edition
4.0
Martin gives us characters haunted by ghosts who look back on a life of wasted potential and regret. Though it’s never said, he shows just how much needless suffering comes from the self inflicted curse of masculinity’s impossible demands. An amazing, heartbreaking read.
sandyd's review
4.0
A rather suspenseful novel about a closeted old gay man living in a small town in Illinois, and what happened to one of his best friends fifty years ago, and what his brother has been up to since they were estranged.
It was very good, very spot-on in the descriptions of the town (white squirrels, like Olney, IL!) and townsfolk. The only thing I really didn't like was the title - when I finally figured out where it came from, at the end of the book, I thought it didn't fit in well with the rest of the story.
It was very good, very spot-on in the descriptions of the town (white squirrels, like Olney, IL!) and townsfolk. The only thing I really didn't like was the title - when I finally figured out where it came from, at the end of the book, I thought it didn't fit in well with the rest of the story.
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