‘The River in Winter’ by Matt Dean
Author: Alan Chin
May 16, 2011
2010 Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Jonah Murray is a seeker. He lives a comfortable life — good job, nice home, mother who supports him — but after the death of his lover, he feels lost and needs help finding his way. Couple that with a series of hate crimes, and Jonah is at his wit’s end. He seeks love, acceptance and identity, but is not sure where to look.
Jonah meets Spike Peterson, a porn star who lights a fire of lust within Jonah. But the lust and love that Jonah feels is not returned, as Spike uses Jonah and then tosses him aside. Spike only magnifies Jonah’s need to find companionship.
After having a breakdown, Jonah meets a counselor, Eliot Moon, who seems to be able to help him. He is invited to join a group of gay men, only to find that the therapist and the men in the group are all trying to become ex-gay men. Jonah feels a hard need for the support he finds within this group, but he knows that to be accepted, he must make sacrifices: that is, give up loving men. Can a gay man find happiness through celibacy?
A 2010 Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Gay Fiction, Matt Dean, takes the reader on an inner journey through a rather icy spot in one man’s life. This is a story that uses excruciatingly beautiful language. It is Dean’s remarkable voice and exquisite prose that makes this novel special, and worth reading.
However, although the story starts with an interesting hook, one that made me experience a range of emotions, much like the protagonist the plot wanders down a path with seemingly no direction. It didn’t take long before my interest level began to plummet. To compound the wandering, the prose, though quite beautiful, was very detailed in its descriptions, which slowed the pacing to a crawl. Rich description is laudable, but only when it advances the plot, which this all too often failed to do. These two elements combined to make this, at least for this reviewer, a dull read.
The story often spouts Christian doctrine, which I personally found distasteful. Christians, however, will no doubt be untroubled by it.
This story was sometimes poignant, and made me examine my own feelings I experienced during troubling times, and it did so with wonderfully gorgeous language, which is why, no doubt, it earned recognition as a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. For readers who like a slower-paced albeit beautifully written journey, with rich descriptions on every page, I recommend this read.
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The River in Winter
by Matt Dean
Queen’s English Productions
Paperback, 9780982555200, 410pp.
October 2009
