GLR March-April 2023

W ILLIAM B URTON HOMO NOVUS by Gerard Cabrera Rattling Good Yarns Press. 258 pages, $16.95 W ITH HIS FIRST NOVEL, Homo Novus , Gerard Cabr era has written an emotionally charged and deeply moving story of two men and the paths that brought them together. As the story begins during Holy Week in 1987, readers find a Catholic priest, Father Linus Fitzgerald, in a hos pital in Massachusetts. He is very sick and is being looked after by a young seminarian, Orlando Rosaria. In alternating chapters, the narrative moves back and forth between the two men as they reflect on their lives and journeys both separately and together. As Father Linus floats between painful memories and the present, he dwells on temptation, sin, regret, and the passions that engulfed him. We begin to under stand the circumstances behind Linus’ hospitalization. Soon med ical diagnosis confirms the worst. His physician informs him that he has AIDS and that few treatment options are available. When he tells his presiding bishop the news, his superior asks: “Was it, just answer if you can, was it a blood transfusion?” Linus hesi tantly responds, “Well, it’s unclear from the tests, but it’s possi ble.” This veiled reference belies the grim understanding of how the Church would react to the possibility of AIDS transmission March–April 2023 abusive situation, which Lily is reluctant to discuss. Not even Maya, Lily and Asher’s mutual best friend, knows the awfulness that Lily has endured. Astute readers can see the storm a-comin’. On this note, readers may become impatient because there’s so much story setup and so little development. This means pages of soap opera, of teenage angst, boy-meets-girl drama, and the kind of fussy mothering that you’ll find in many women’s novels. But things are about to change. Note that Picoult is known for his novels about heterosexual relationships. Boylan, who is transgender, adds realism to a story that twists this heterosexual relationship into something that will pleasantly surprise readers. The reticence Asher and Lily both feel about discussing their past histories becomes a vast silence between them. He refuses to talk to her, then she returns the gesture. Lily’s mother doesn’t seem to notice that her daughter is suffering. Olivia knows that Asher is struggling to do right by the girl he says he loves. When he makes a very big, tone-deaf mistake in this effort, Lily storms off and won’t answer his texts or calls. Asher becomes frustrated and angry, unsure if Lily is still angry at him. He hears that she’s sick and wonders if he’s the cause. In his youth, he doesn’t know if he should stay away and give her space or go to her house to speak with her directly. He chooses the latter, which unleashes a series of events culminating in a kaboom ending that will satisfy readers of suspense, romance, and courtroom drama novels. ____________________________________________________ Terri Schlichenmeyer is a freelance writer based in Wisconsin. Two Priests with a Past

If I Knew How To Do It

I would offer readers the gift Of a perfect sphere of whatever size They desired, like a soap bubble

From a child’s pipe with a little prism Quivering on it—turquoise and orange Caught in sunlight, and green and pink. And soon the orb I vision would disappear— Evanescent, then it isn’t. J ONATHAN B RACKER

through same-sex relations. Father Linus’ caregiver is Orlando, whom Linus greatly es teems. Orlando, now 21, is also preparing to become a priest. The seminarian has been at the center of Linus’ obsessive atten tions since he was fourteen, when Linus sexually seduced him as a student. Their relationship began with a violation of trust and eventually blossomed into a caring bond that was both sacred and profane. Much of the book is about their shared journey as they ex plore their theological beliefs, their chosen vocation, matters of lust and love and the overall human condition. How Linus and Orlando come to terms with their sexuality and vocation as priests is at the crux of the novel. The story moves from Springfield, Massachusetts, to Boston and to Puerto Rico—to seminaries, churches, and gay bars. It’s a sexually charged recounting that features a balance between the virtues of compassion and love along with the vices of self-interest and lustful desires. Orlando reflects on his struggles with being gay and the val ues of the Church and its theology and on how he ultimately comes to terms with his choices and his life. He also develops a close friendship with Eric, a former seminarian who left the Church because he couldn’t reconcile the conflict between being gay and the dogmas of the priesthood. Eric challenges Orlando’s belief system and his choice to continue in the priesthood. Linus, however, revels in Orlando’s perseverance. On a vacation, Linus and Orlando travel to Puerto Rico, Or lando’s birthplace. Eric, now a seminary dropout, happens to be staying close by. The three indulge their sexual passions, going to gay bars and succumbing to desire for each other. They also have heated theological discussions. It is on this trip that Linus begins to get sick and show symptoms of his disease. Cabrera has written a powerful story that is unflinchingly emotional, sexually candid, and consistently haunting. It is a compassionate story of connection, abuse, sin, and the search for redemption. Linus and Orlando’s story is one of their shared se crets, desires, sins, and their journey of faith and reconciliation to a church that cannot accept their homosexuality. The title Homo Novus is apt, since it means new man —one who has risen from a lowly position to nobility. That is what both Linus and Orlando attempted as they came to a resolution between their careers and their sexuality and the choice of a religious vocation. _______________________________________________________________ William Burton, a regular reviewer, is based in Provincetown, MA.

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