Reviewed by Robin Timm
This is a story that made quite an impact on me while reading because the story could almost be mine, having lived in Boston in the late 80’s in a house of gay men.This book jumps back and forth, between 1985 with the death of Fiona’s brother from AIDS complications and the present when Fiona is searching for her estranged daughter in Paris. During the search Fiona also finds herself dealing with the memories of her many lost friends. It is an amazing snapshot of what life was like for many of us at that time, when AIDS was in full swing, when we were young and thought we were invincible.
For me the memories are bittersweet. I settled in Boston to be with friends, after 2 years away in the Peace Corps. When I left one friend had contracted HIV and we were uncertain about any of it. When I came back 2 years later, there were multiple cases, yet not too many were known to me. However, in 2 more years, many of my friends had sprouted Kaposi’s sarcomas, nodding and acknowledging that they had joined the club. I left Boston in 1990, coming home to Milwaukee and a different life.
For a time, my Boston friends wrote and kept me posted on who survived and who died then soon the letters became fewer and life went on. This book took me back to a time so consumed with an illness that now seems forgotten and yet all too vivid.