Where can I even begin to describe my love for this book?
No, seriously. This book was incredible. I've always been the type of reader who gets overly invested in my books, and this one was written in such a way to heighten that investment. Josie (or Joe), our detective and narrator, introduces us to her story with no preamble, throwing the reader into her investigation headfirst and waiting until later to explain. She describes her surroundings with just enough detail to give the reader a perfect view of each place, but manages to not bore you with tedious descriptions. Everything Josie takes note of is somehow important, even if she hasn't realized it yet. And you're right there with her, trying to figure out who's guilty and who's innocent, who can be trusted and who can't. There's no all-seeing third-person perspective in this book. You know what Josie knows, and that's it.
Learning about Josie through her investigation was a beautiful touch. It would have been easy to start the book off with Josie saying, "Hi, I'm Josie, and let me give you six chapters of backstory before I actually do anything!" But instead, Josie reveals herself by answering other characters' questions and telling other characters stories. Some stories are about herself and some are about her brother, but her way of remembering her brother and speaking about her brother reveals who Josie is, too. Though the true mystery was what happened to her brother, why, and by whom, the secondary mystery of who Josie is managed to keep my interest as well. Not only did I want Josie to be reunited with Jimmy, but I also wanted her to figure out who she is, who she wants to be, and who she can be. The distinction between those three personas is an important one, as for Josie, they are three different people she longs to become one.
As if it could get any better than that, the novel is also steeped in queer history. Gilmartin's research was extensive, and it gave the book a feeling of authenticity that only enhanced the story. Sometimes it's nice to read a book as a complete escape and to think, "I'm glad this could never happen." But this book's power comes from its realism. Everything that happened to Josie and to those around her has probably happened to someone in real life. And everything that happened to those people was probably a hell of a lot worse, because they weren't obligated to narrate a story and therefore stay alive for 300 pages. Parts of this book are disturbing and hard to read for those exact reasons, but again, that just makes it all the more powerful. Gilmartin even included historical notes at the end of the novel, explaining which historical figures inspired certain characters and giving suggestions for further reading if the reader desires to learn more about a certain aspect of queer history.
I'm counting this as a must-read for anyone who wants a clear picture of what queer life was like in the 1950s, anyone who loves a good mystery, anyone who loves an empathetic narrator whose mystery is just as great as that surrounding her case, anyone who wants to be completely immersed in the world they're reading about, and anyone who finds any aspect of this book interesting. It truly is a masterpiece, and not one that should be forgotten.
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他の国からのトップレビュー
Raeann
Where can I even begin to describe my love for this book
2015年5月30日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Lesley Pollard
Great mystery story line!
2015年6月26日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
sweet p
Deepen Your Appreciation for Now As You Step into the Past
2015年2月18日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Annie Montana
A literate, beautifully written mystery
2015年3月15日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Wanda Headley
I very much enjoyed this book
2015年5月16日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
