“You can’t do that!”
The last person who uttered those words in your presence was in for a big awakening. He didn’t know that those four words are like the proverbial bull-and-red-cape for you. They’re a challenge, a dare, and an ultimatum to your senses. They are a guaranteed way to make you do exactly what you are told is forbidden.
So you never listen to anybody when it comes to the “C” word – but what if your actions would cost you everything? In the new book, Where You Are by J.H. Trumble, a young teacher weighs that, and listens to his heart.
Andrew McNelis knew that his star pupil was struggling at home.
Robert Westfall’s father was dying, and though the high school senior was keeping up at school, McNelis could tell that it was difficult for the boy. He wished he could comfort Robert – he was beautiful, with his blond hair and easy confidence – but that kind of contact could get McNelis into a heap of trouble.
McNelis was gay, and he kept that under wraps. Just a few years older than his students, the last thing he needed was for them to know about his private life.
Robert had always had a crush on Mr. McNelis. He liked the way his teacher smiled, and McNelis’ old-fashioned way of talking. Though Robert had a boyfriend, he’d never actually been kissed. He wondered what it would be like to kiss Mr. McNelis.
It started out as a lunchtime friendship. Then McNelis gave Robert his phone number. Robert asked McNelis to chaperone the band dance and check out colleges with him. Teacher and student grew closer, began to share secrets, and the inevitable happened.
There were just four months until graduation. Four months, until it wouldn’t matter that Robert and his teacher were falling in love. But in the meantime, there were two big problems: Robert was underage. And Mr. McNelis was flirting with a felony.
My first response, when this book crossed my desk, was a sneer. The news is filled with adults preying on kids, and I wasn’t interested. But then, I became intrigued. With so many possible outcomes and ways to treat a topic like this, exactly how would author J.H. Trumble deal with such a controversial, hot-button topic?
The answer is: carefully, but I was still a little uncomfortable. The story here is one of forbidden love that’s only bound by temporary rules and, in a long-lens sort of way, it’s very well-done (albeit, a bit overly-long). The problem, however, takes me to the root of why I was a little repelled by this book: the adult main character here is just that. An adult in a leadership role who forgets that his “paramour” is a 17-year-old.
Yes, I know this is a work of fiction, but it’s a squirmy thing to read – not just because of the tension and will-they-get-caught suspense, but because the wrong is wrongly lacking in the story. For that, Where You Are is a book I can’t recommend.
BOOK REVIEW
Where You Are J.H. Trumble
© 2013, Kensington
$15/$16.95 Canada
336 pages
I think the reviewer missed the point of this fantastic novel. The “wrong” is definitely not “wrongly lacking” in the story. It is VERY clear that both characters, particularily the teacher, know that their relationship is not appropriate and it is the struggle to resist each other that makes it uncomfortable to read, at times. And since when is feeling “squirmy” a bad thing? The teacher doesn’t “forget” that Robert is underage, but rather, makes a bad decision by giving in to a damaged kid who is very much in love (and lust) with a man who is also his teacher. When we read about these types of relationships in the news, it is very easy to label the teacher as a preditor, forgetting that a 17-year-old boy is physically a man and has strong sexual urges (something our society is often too embarrassed to discuss). It is wrong for the adult teacher to enter into a relationship with a student regardless, there is no question about that, but as with most things in life it is never as simple as it seems. I applaud J.H. Trumble for tackling a complex, difficult story with humanity and for making us squirm, and even better, think. She holds up a mirror to a situation that most people have already made a judgement about, which leads the reader to look at something more deeply. Isn’t that what artists and authors should be doing? Is it a light-hearted, fluffy romantic read? No, but some of us readers are looking for more. I highly recommend this book. It is one of the most original and well crafted stories that I have read in some time.