Review
Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out
Synopsis:
Arthur Edwards, after living his entire life in the small town of Northbridge in northern England, at the age of 79, and after 50 years of marriage and two adult children, wants everyone to know that he's gay.
Arthur's 21-year-old grandson, Teddy, is also gay, but he hasn't told anyone in his family yet. As Teddy watches his grandfather come out to his family and his family's reactions, especially his mother's, he begins to question if he, too, should come out to his family or if he should continue to hide who he is from them. Can these two men, one at the beginning of his life, the other closer to the end, help each other and their family accept who they really are?
In Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out, debut author Ryan Love puts an interesting spin on the "coming out" story. By focusing on two different people, decades apart in age, he deftly illustrates the challenges individuals face when taking that step. He also shows how the process of coming out can be more challenging for older adults due to others' refusal to accept a recently revealed truth about someone they've known for a long period of time. While the novel is focused on Arthur and Teddy coming out to their family and friends, the overarching theme of Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out is to live life to the fullest. Accept and embrace yourself and those around you, and do your best to live your life with as few regrets as possible. And, honestly, that's very good advice for everyone.
Review
亞瑟·愛德華茲一生都生活在英格蘭北部的小鎮諾斯布里奇。他在那裡長大，並在那裡遇到了他的妻子瑪德琳，兩人結為夫妻。他們育有兩個孩子，伊麗莎白和派崔克。和大多數小鎮一樣，無論地處何地，鎮上的人似乎都彼此相識。想要保護個人隱私的人必須時時警惕，防止那些不想公開的事情最終被人知曉。
亞瑟有個秘密。他畢生都在努力保守這個秘密。如今，79歲的他不再隱瞞，決定以真實的自我生活。結婚五十年，育有兩個成年子女後，亞瑟想讓大家知道，他是同性戀。
還有一件事無人知曉，包括亞瑟在內，那就是他21歲的孫子泰迪也藏著一個秘密，而且和亞瑟的秘密一模一樣。泰迪看著爺爺向家人坦白自己的性取向，以及家人，尤其是母親的反應，開始質疑自己是否也該向家人坦白，還是應該繼續隱瞞。這兩個男人，一個正值青春年華，一個已步入暮年，他們能否幫助彼此和家人接受真實的自己呢？
在處女作《亞瑟與泰迪出櫃記》中，作者瑞恩·洛夫以獨特的視角重新詮釋了「出櫃」這個主題。他聚焦於年齡相差數十歲的兩個截然不同的人，巧妙地展現了人們在邁出這一步時所面臨的挑戰。同時，他也揭示了對於年長者而言，出櫃的過程可能更加艱難，因為其他人往往難以接受自己認識多年的人突然公開的性取向。
洛夫筆下的人物刻畫得栩栩如生。雖然亞瑟初次表白時引發了一些家庭矛盾，但洛夫巧妙地用其他家庭成員的溫暖和同情心平衡了這些矛盾。尤其是亞瑟的妻子瑪德琳，亞瑟與她共同為家人創造了一個美好的生活和家。
雖然小說主要講述了亞瑟和泰迪向家人朋友出櫃的故事，但《亞瑟和泰迪出櫃記》的主旨卻是要盡情享受人生。接納並擁抱自己和身邊的人，盡力讓人生少一點遺憾。說實話，這對每個人來說都是非常好的建議。
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