Virginia Lovers

by Michael Parker

Book Overview

In the autumn of 1975, a small town struggles with the mysterious murder of Brandon Pierce, a gay teenager found dead in his parents' bed following a high-school key party. As Thomas Edgecombe, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1883285240
• ISBN13: 9781883285241
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Delphinium Books
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

WHAT A TOTALLY TRAGIC STORY !!

"The way you act, we never had a family at all. Just you and me and Danny and Pete living in the same house, sharing the same meals every once in a while." `That's pretty close to the truth,' she said. `Except it was less than every once in a while.'" This brief statement summarizes the total alienation one senses as he reads this remarkable book, VIRGINIA LOVERS. This is a tragic tale of miscommunication, adolescent rebellion, and the total breakdown of the so-called "traditional nuclear family." Thomas Edgecombe is the owner/editor/reporter of a small town Southern newspaper. He is a man consumed by his work and his dedication to truth. He has 2 sons, Danny, the so-called good son, and Pete, the so-called bad son. His wife Caroline at times appears to be his friend, at times his enemy, at times his alter ego, and at times his estranged life-mate. At a teenage house party, Brandon, an effeminate boy, is murdered in his parent's bedroom. The unwinding of the story of Brandon's murder, Danny and Pete's involvement in the tragedy, and their desperate attempt to free themselves of the routine of small town life, as well as the possibility of being implicated and the exposing of closely guarded secrets, is the core of this novel. The failure of the Edgecombe family is that despite the fact it appears to be the All-American Family, it is rather, a totally dysfunctional family that is trapped within its own isolation and individual alienation. How the entire plot and sub-plots evolve is the beauty of this book. It will provide a very rewarding read. It will, however, leave the reader wondering and thinking well after he or she closes the book.

He lived valiantly and was loved back with a simple honesty

Author Michael Parker certainly knows teenage angst. He also knows about small town America and how teenagers who are somehow different can so often be cruelly ostracized and made to feel like outcasts. In his world, young men are often angst-ridden, and troubled, stumbling through life shouldering enormous problems with no resolution in sight. Even the families depicted in his novels go through their days in a miasma of missed communication. In his latest, Virginia Lovers, it is 1975 and the Edgecombe family is living in Trent, North Carolina. They're just trying to get along and survive each day without arguing. Over the years, brothers Pete and Daniel have steadily grown apart. Now more like acquaintances than actual brothers, Pete has developed a set of unruly, disruptive buddies and spends his time drinking with them, rolling joints, being cool, and fantasizing about the Rolling Stones. He's a smart, brilliant boy, but Thomas, his concerned father, is beginning to worry, not just about the people he's hanging out with - "the riffraff demimonde," but also about his recent derelict behaviour. Daniel, on the other hand, is a star student and had been working hard in the hope of obtaining the prestigious Carmichael Scholarship that will finally get him out of this tin pot, hick town. Neither concerned nor particularly interested in what his younger brother says or does, Daniel throws himself into his studies with an intellectual rigor and tries hard to be a valued member of the school football team, even though he's only playing because it will make him look better in the eyes of the Carmichael judges. Thomas, their morally upright father, runs Trent's local newspaper. A left of center journalist, and a closeted champion of civil rights, Thomas has spent most of his professional life dedicated to presenting honest, non-partisan news, but he constantly has to battle the more conservative forces who in the past have been more easily offended by his more liberal views. His role as "a purveyor of truth in the community" and unapologetic defense of the blacks and Jews has often comes at a price in the form of cancelled subscriptions and angry letters. Thomas seeks solace from Caroline, allowing her "shoulder the business of domesticity" but it doesn't make his job of raising two boys and running the town's paper any easier. When Brandon Piece, an effeminate gay teenager is brutally murdered in his parents' bedroom following an alcohol soaked high-school keg party, all eyes turn to Pete and Daniel. Both were familiar with the boy - Pete through school and Daniel as a part-time friend. Brandon was picked on and vilified by almost everyone in the community, and the discovery that Pete's best friend Lee Tysinger was not just having an affair with Brandon but probably murdered him, shocks Pete and Daniel to the core. Scared of what will happen to them if they testify, the boys hit the road in their '68 Falcon, ending up in Washington, where Dani

This is a Good One

It's a wonderful short novel--you can tell the author cares about the people in this story. Not only that but he's an artist. Parker's short story in the December 2004 OXFORD AMERICAN is a must read.

This Book is for Lovers of Story

Michael Parker makes brave, difficult choices in this novel. While the protagonists live and wander in the South, this story, in part about acceptance of a homosexual son, is taking place all over the world, today as much as it did back in the 70s. The time markers give the story an authoritative texture familiar to any reader over twenty-five. While Parker mines the emotional and spiritual, he makes sure that things happen throughout the book and reader won't be able to help getting wrapped up in the plot. Indeed I wish I could have spent more time with the characters. Very worthwhile.

A gripping read, with a touch of the poet in the writing

Michael Parker has always written lyrically and poetically. But in this novel his storytelling acumen and talent have risen to equal heights with his talent for imagery and character description. I loved this book! This is not a "Southern novel"; this is a story of family, tragedy and redemption, passages and human character, which happens to be set in a small town in the south. This novel should appeal to anyone who loves a good story but also understands the importance of family and the roles we play in family. Read this book!