Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out: The uplifting, feel-good read of 2023

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So this continues, and it’s clear to the reader at least that Ben is struggling with feeling insecure about his job (because Teddy, being a nepo baby, has obviously got the end position all sewn up) and insecure about his relationship (given how much Teddy’s best friend hates him and how Teddy’s always telling Ben to try get along with Shakeel, and never confronting Shakeel about how he’s treating Ben).

Without spoiling the plot, alongside the main narrative of coming to terms with sexuality, there are deeper issues such as mental health that are dealt with here in ways that might pull up readers in shock. CW: Suicide, threat of murder, homophobia, gaslighting, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, death of a parent, physical abuse, cancer, addiction, grief, abandonment of a child, abandonment of an elder. Everything is right there on the page, no subtlety behind anything, and when characters talk it often feels like the author is standing just above them maneuvering their strings. After hearing Arthur’s account of being a closet gay in the sixties, being subjected to conversion therapy at his father’s request, Teddy is grateful that attitudes have changed, but still wary of coming out, given his mother’s reaction. However, his wife Madeleine was very interesting, but sadly her time was limited and we didn’t get anything from her point of view.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Australia. I really loved how supportive Madeleine was throughout, and I particularly loved Arthur and Teddy's conversations with each other, and the one about Jack had me sobbing.

It was a brave decision to stray away from something so familiar, and in my opinion, it works really well. This was a very sweet look into how coming out both feels and can affect your family and community’s view of you. Anyway, most of this book is them individually and together fighting bigoted views in their hometown and finding (or refinding) love. If you spend your whole time never listening to how your boyfriend’s feelings were hurt by your best friend’s behaviour, is it any surprise you break up?For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password.

In conclusion, this novel needs to check it's internalized homophobia, it's internalized misogyny, it's unlikable characters, and it's generally cliché-ridden writing. Don't get me wrong, I loved the book, it's just that the story is sad, but also endearing and, at the same time, it makes you wonder why some people can't accept others the way they are. It's perhaps a bit one-note, an exceedingly bright and cheery note where everything goes super well, but given the amount of My Policeman type gay tragedy lit out there, many will embrace this rebalancing of the scales, not to mention the welcome focus on a much older man. Having queer versions of this kind of finding-yourself-at-any-age light read genre is a good thing, allowing more people to see different kinds of stories about sexuality, but the narrative pacing and writing of this one wasn't quite for me. Die Unterstützung, die er dabei von seiner (noch) Frau Madeleine erfährt und die Liebe, die die beiden einander entgegenbringen, hat mich teilweise zu Tränen gerührt.Ben, for obvious reasons, is less than impressed by this, since he’s had to work hard and pull himself up by the bootstraps to get here (he later reveals he was disowned by his parents for being gay. They do not take it well (another point of contention I had, but I’ll come back to that a lot later). Mixed with the story of a young person coming to terms with their own sexuality, this book hit close to home and is, to me, an extremely important piece of queer literature. Die Angst vor Zurückweisung und Anfeindung, die Unsicherheit, wie die liebsten Menschen reagieren werden und das Wissen darum, dass das Coming Out keine einmalige Sache ist, sondern immer wieder notwendig wird, können einen schon ziemlich abschrecken.