𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑵𝒐𝒘! 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑱𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆.
𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝, 𝑅𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦, 𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑏𝑦 𝐵𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝑊. 𝐵𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑝
If you’re hitting this frosty January hankering for a fresh start, may I suggest jumping into an airplane with Rory Rafferty as he leaves the Nova Scotia of his youth for the Toronto of his future? Grow up, Rory Rafferty is a new novel by one of my favourite historical fiction authors, Bruce W. Bishop. We hear a lot about “memoir-plus” these days in the nonfiction world. Consider Bruce the master of the historical-fiction-plus – and in his case, the plus are Pride people.
Bruce’s “Families’ Storytelling” trilogy brought fascinating LGBTQ+ perspectives to Atlantic Canadian stories set in the 1920s, 30s and 50s. Now, you could argue that Rory’s coming-of-age story set in 1979 isn’t quite historical yet, but once you dive inside the pages and attitudes of the time, you may reconsider. Rory knows he doesn’t fit into his rural Nova Scotia town, but it takes an awakening in Toronto for him to realize he’s attracted to men.
Rory meets another young Scotian on the plane and she helps him land a job at the Prosperina, a stuffy T.O. club owned and staffed by a group of people who can’t seem to stop involving themselves in each other’s lives. It’s a funny story told at a furious pace.
I love how Rory’s journey is revealed with joy and delight – and Pride! – as in this scene: “Rory looked from left to right. Stephanie nudged him and said, ‘Go on, go dance with Tom! It’s your birthday, Huck!’ …. He hopped on the dance floor with Tom ahead of him for moral support. Rory, high on life, didn’t care about others’ opinions as he danced with another man. ‘I can’t believe he wants to dance with me and doesn’t care who sees us!’”
I spilled through the pages in a week. I loved this from the author’s note at the end: “If you are new to adulthood, I salute you! Cherish your experiences, good and bad. Embrace it all and be gentle with yourself.” Bruce says if enough people read Rory’s story, we may get another installment. Buy a copy to make that come true.