Moving On by H.J. Holt

[reviews_and_ramblings]

An emotional tale about a young man trying to moving on an abusive relationship; considering the theme, angst was an expected factor, but I was pleasantly surprise to find out that it wasn’t the main one. Too often the authors push on the easy tears button to make a story dig on your emotional barriers, and sometime it gets old. Here there was just that touch of drama, enough to justify the changing life decisions of Luke, but not so much to destroy him. Actually, the drama he is running away back home, and that comes back to tag him in Bristol, to me could have even stayed there, a memento of something bad that shouldn’t happen again, but it wasn’t really necessary for it to reappear in current time.

When 22 years old Luke meets 36 years old Paul, it’s obvious they are from different side of life, and it’s not only a question of age; while not rich, Paul is a teacher, with a steady job and a not wanted inheritance from his late partner. He is good from a quality life point of view, not so much when you talk about feelings. Paul wasn’t expecting to be alone at mid-thirties, he had figured he was to grow old with his partner in a contented and fulfilling relationship, without much bumps but good. Luke recognizes in him a companion loneliness, and he approaches Paul at a club. At first both Paul and Luke consider it a no strings attached night, but the sex is good, good enough they want to see where it will lead.

While Paul and his friends notice the age difference, and other differences as well, I have never felt like it mattered to Luke. Luke is more worried about his lack of formal instruction, or social status, than the fact he is so much younger than Paul. And there wasn’t either the common theme of the Daddy/boy pairing, it’s obvious that Paul is older than Luke, but Luke isn’t looking for a substitute fatherly figure. Maybe Paul’s work as a teacher will help him understanding Luke and pushing him towards the right steps without forcing him.

Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (July 9, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613725922
ISBN-13: 978-1613725924
Amazon: Moving on
Amazon Kindle: Moving on

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