Top 100 Gay Novel: Nothing Pink by Mark Hardy
Nothing Pink is almost a fairy tale (no pun intended), not since it’s unrealistic, but since it preserves all the innocence of young age, and like in a fairy tale, there is a prince who comes to rescue the love of his life.
Vincent is the 15 years old son of a Baptist minister and he is gay. Vincent has never kissed a boy, he has never ever met another gay boy, or man, but he knows deep inside that he is gay; he knows since he was a little child, since his favourite shirt was a pink one, and when the realization struck on him, that he was gay, he swore out pink from his life. For all his life he has behaved like the good son of the preacher, he goes to all the function, he does the chores at home, he is the perfect good boy and he avoids everything that is “gay”. But the gayness is inside him, and he seems to not be able to get rid of it, no matter how many prayers he says.
And then the gayness arrives even in the safe shelter of his father’s church, when he moves with the family on a new town and he meets Robert, one of the new parishioners, 16 years old and gay. It’s like the meeting of two souls, or maybe it’s only that they are alone among all the others, it seems natural to stay together. Love for them is riding together on the same horse, having a picnic alone on the top of an hill overlooking the horizon, or walking together side by side. There is time for what it will come, for now is enough for Vincent to know that he is not alone.
It’s not simple for Vincent and he knows it. He knows that it will arrive the time when he will have to leave his parents’ house since they love him, and he knows that, but they will never accept his homosexuality. Even in a fairy tale like this one, where he is able to meet his prince charming, the happy ending of his parents’ acceptance is not possible. Nevertheless, the story is innocent and fresh, maybe since it’s about teenager, or maybe it’s since the time is the beginning of the ’80, when the AIDS plague was not part of the trouble a young gay boy will have to fear.
Maybe Vincent is too clever for his age, maybe he has lost the chance to be a careless teenager, but at least I think he will be able to find his path in the world, far from his family, that, I highlight again, it’s not cruel or unwelcoming, it’s simple not the family in whose embrace he can live forever. But Vincent has learned the more important lesson, to love himself so that everyone, even God, will love him, and I think that, despite all, he learned it from his family.
Amazon: Nothing Pink
Amazon Kindle: Nothing Pink
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