After a reckless drinking bout at a country/western dance, which Joel has gone to with his best friend, Tom, they are caught kissing. Their friends are shocked, but nothing like they are. This opening scene sends Joel and Tom on a path of self-discovery neither of them are prepared to take.
Joel's rural life of high school and farming in Common, New Mexico, is changed forever when Tom comes to town. The son of a preacher, Tom reaches out to Joel in friendship, and their bond to each other becomes as tight as brothers. After their kiss at the country western dance, Joel's openness to his own feelings and acceptance of himself allows him to explore these new and confusing feelings he has for Tom. But Tom's torment of sin and self-incrmination are from from over. This is a story of live and finding the courage to come out and come to grips with the truth in the face of hatred and adversity.
Before reading Ronald Donaghe’s novel Common Sons, I read his more recent novel The Salvation Mongers. Both novels take place in New Mexico, and some of the characters from Common Sons make brief appearances in The Salvation Mongers.
My deep enjoyment of The Salvation Mongers gave me high expectations for the novel it followed. To set the expectations even higher, the third printing of Common Sons begins with some of the many comments that readers have sent Donaghe over the years; those readers tell of the many ways Common Sons touched their lives.
Common Sons will touch your life too! Lovers Joel and Tom seem like many of the masculine young men that most adults remember from high school. Donaghe makes them completely real and believable as he introduces us to their struggles, doubts, conflicts, explorations, love, and triumph.
Donaghe also makes the small-town setting seem completely real, describing the landscape, the church politics, the farming, and everything else with vibrant honesty and fascination. This novel easily met my extremely high expectations and left me feeling hopeful for the countless gays and lesbians who face hostility for trying to maintain committed relationships.
When the powers-that-be make the decision to return a selfish party-girl, Zara, to Earth on three missions of redemption, can romance and mayhem be far behind? One hot and trendy gay nightclub, two bickering angels and three unlikely pairs add up to
Just a simple gathering of the Gay & Lesbian Activist Association of New Birch and Sipsboror (GLAABS) and we plunge down a hilarious ride to perdition.
