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Tramps and Vagabonds
May. 9th, 2022 05:39 pmA new Aster Glenn Gray novel is out today, Tramps and Vagabonds, and people, this one holds a special place in my heart. I beta read it, for one thing, but it's not just that. It's a very tender story, right in that place where friendship bleeds into romantic love and sexual attraction, and the characters are so, so finely drawn. And on top of that, it's a wonderful window onto a time and place that's fascinating: the world of young people on the road during the Great Depression. Aster Glenn Gray absolutely nails the combination of the romance of the road and the awful realities of it, without having "awful reality" crush out the romance. In the summertime, it really can be glorious. If, like me, you've ever wondered what it would be like to ride the rails, WELL HERE YOU GO. She shows hobo camps ("jungles"--probably the people who read here already know that term, but I didn't), she shows the protective/exploitive relationships that develop, and just--she's really good at showing all this without passing judgment and without giving you a sense that she's withholding judgment but boy could she lay it on you if she wanted. Things just are presented. Or okay, because you're seeing things from experienced James's point of view, you do get *some* opinions and judgments, but they're the opinions and judgments of an adolescent who doesn't even know who he is or what he's feeling or what he's going to do with himself.
And the details of 1930s middle America are just to die for. There's a scene early on where James is drawing soap art on a diner window in trade for a meal--wonderful.
And then into all that, there's what it was like to be gay in such a setting (very different from what it was like to be gay in mainstream society, but still with all kinds of nastiness and rule and hierarchies because, heh, humanity, you know?)
I'm very demanding when it comes to romance tropes: I need them to feel organic to the story (and what feels organic depends on the story: in a comedy like Enemies to Lovers, being chained together for a writing exercise feels organic! It probably woudn't in this story). So I am happy to report, they feel very organic here.
There are some emotionally intense moments that I had to read quickly through, but some readers will adore those moments most of all. And there's some surprisingly hot sex--surprising for me, that is, because I don't have any of the bits. Human desire is such a weird thing!
The book is out in e-version now, but I am pretty sure paperback will follow; it usually does.
And the details of 1930s middle America are just to die for. There's a scene early on where James is drawing soap art on a diner window in trade for a meal--wonderful.
And then into all that, there's what it was like to be gay in such a setting (very different from what it was like to be gay in mainstream society, but still with all kinds of nastiness and rule and hierarchies because, heh, humanity, you know?)
I'm very demanding when it comes to romance tropes: I need them to feel organic to the story (and what feels organic depends on the story: in a comedy like Enemies to Lovers, being chained together for a writing exercise feels organic! It probably woudn't in this story). So I am happy to report, they feel very organic here.
There are some emotionally intense moments that I had to read quickly through, but some readers will adore those moments most of all. And there's some surprisingly hot sex--surprising for me, that is, because I don't have any of the bits. Human desire is such a weird thing!
The book is out in e-version now, but I am pretty sure paperback will follow; it usually does.
