February 2024 MBR The LGBTQ Fiction Shelf

The LGBTQ Fiction Shelf

After Camus
Jay Neugeboren
Madville Publishing
www.MadvillePublishing.com
9781956440737, $21.95, PB, 332pp

https://www.amazon.com/After-Camus-Jay-Neugeboren/dp/1956440739

Synopsis: A troubled marriage and and love story "After Camus" by Jay Neuge=
boren is set against the background of the AIDS epidemic, and the American =
wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

It's the story of Saul Davidoff and Tolle Riordan, who meet during a protes=
t against the Vietnam War, marry, live through the Plague Years of the AIDS=
 epidemic, raise a family -- and burn out.

Camus is a hero to both of them: Tolle, a young dancer and choreographer, h=
as a liaison with him in Paris shortly before his death; Saul, inspired by =
Camus's The Plague, becomes an infectious disease (and AIDS) doctor ... and=
 Camus becomes a ghostly presence central to our story.

Hoping to repair their marriage, Tolle and Saul return to a village in the =
South of France where they lived when they were first in love, and where Ca=
mus lived when recovering from a siege of tuberculosis. The novel draws a v=
ivid portrait of a marriage that spans a series of historical events: from =
the Vietnam war through the AIDS epidemic and Gulf War, to the Iraq War and=
 the advent of the right wing Le Pen movement in France.

Critique: A powerful novel of enchantments and from start to finish, "After=
 Camus" clearly reveals author Jay Neugeboren to be at the hight of his abi=
lities as a writer and storyteller. While a fictional meditation on recent =
American and LGBTQ history, "After Camus" is also a compelling tale of how =
various forms of love and friendship do and do not survive in times of soci=
al and political upheaval. Eloquent and original, "After Camus" is one of t=
hose novels that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long afte=
r the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. Simply sta=
ted, "After Camus" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal,=
 community, and college/university library LGBTQ Romance collections and su=
pplemental "Contemporary American Literature" curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Jay Neugeboren (http://jayneugeboren.com) is the author of =
22 books, including five prize-winning novels (The Stolen Jew, Before My Li=
fe Began,1940, Poli: A Mexican Boy in Early Texas, and The American Sun & W=
ind Moving Picture Company), two prize-winning books of nonfiction (Imagini=
ng Robert, Transforming Madness), and four collections of award-winning sto=
ries.

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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
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To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal=
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Midwest Book Review