Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Sometimes an entire lifetime can be spent in the arms and heart of one person. It is not so with imaginations, for they go anywhere they wish.

David Ayres and Arthur Smith are about to find that out. When they meet as young men within the garden walls of the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, one man from one continent, one from another, an uncontrollable attraction brings them together. But it is something stronger than attraction that holds them there. It is love. Pure and simple.

After forty years, when the fabric of their existence together finally begins to fray because of David’s imaginary infidelities, it is with humor and commitment that they strive to remain in each other’s heart.

And turning fantasy into reality, they find, is the best way to do it.

I love John Inman’s writings.  His comedic novels (and the few mysteries I have read) have always been grounded in the pain and gritty reality of life, an element which made the humorous sections feel authentic and precious when they happen.  But lately I’m finding it harder to connect with his stories and its left me wondering if it’s my expectations that are at fault instead of his actual writing.

Nothing exemplifies my confusion with his recent novels better than his latest story, Chasing the Swallows.   It was a story where I absolutely detested some elements while others left me sobbing and emptying a box of tissues.    I loved one character, disliked another (both came across as throughly believable and real).  And throughout the entire story, Inman’s style of writing felt concise, well organized and it brought the story to it’s heartbreaking/heartwarming conclusion.  But I wouldn’t read it again and hesitate to recommend it to others. *head desk*

My issues with the story started from page one.  The reader is dumped into the pornographic daydream of David Ayers, one half of a couple that’s been together for approximately 40 years after meeting in their early 20’s.  Its like reading/watching a bad porn movie unrolling before you with the (insert stock character like pool boy, gardener here) as a participant.  It’s only when the daydream is interrupted by Arthur, his partner, that we realize what has happened.  And the reality is both brief and painful for the reader and Arthur who realizes that his lover’s pornographic fantasies occupy more of David’s time and emotions then Arthur does.  We feel his pain and confusion over their situation and it drags the reader over immediately to Arthur’s side, where at least I stayed for two thirds of the story.

Over and over again, David and Arthur’s present day life (and David’s remembrances of their past together) is abruptly halted by David’s erotic dreaming, no matter the time of day.  We are just getting settled into finding out how they met or learning  about their life together then…bam….it’s David and his sexual hookups with whatever hottie is in front of him.  Grocery store, church, no male or location was free of David’s promiscuous musings.   And yeah, Jimmy Carter’s famous line about “I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times..” did jump to mind, and not favorably.

It’s not that the daydreams that bother me (ok, not true, they did) but also that these pages of porn take me away from the characters and out of the narrative.  Just as I suspect the author designed it to.  Those very same pornographic musings are taking David away from Arthur and their life together just as its removing the reader from their story.  It’s a familiar refrain heard from couples where one has become obsessed by the porn on the computer to the point where they do little else.  I get it, really I do.  But this literary device works too well.  It pulled me out of the narrative so completely (and made me detest David so throughly) that I kept putting down the story and going on to another.  Sometime it took me days to bring myself to pick up this story once more.  Only to repeat the process.

David is the narrator of their life together, past and present.  But its Arthur who grabs at our hearts while David is obsessing over his age and sex life.  Arthur is funny, fragile, and living in the moment…unlike his lover David. And Arthur is fully aware of how far they’ve traveled from the two young men so very much in love. He’s being neglected, perhaps completely.  It hurts, and it feels almost unbearably painful for him and the reader. Forty years together will do that…for some. Not all…most definitely not all.

But this is a realistic look at a long term relationships that has wavered and faltered. It’s so well written, its descriptions so starkly believable and filled with hurt feelings that I never once doubted the raw, immediate lives John Inman was laying out before us.  This includes David’s missed opportunities, ones he was aware of,  to make it “right” that helped serve to highlight those areas that I felt severed me from their story.  That it will take a tragedy to bring David back into his relationship may be authentic and realistic but further highlights the long delay it took to make the connection to David happen, at least for me.  Yes, towards the end I liked the “new” outlook that David found but that’s not the man I (and Arthur) lived with for most of the book.  That David was selfish, mean, obsessive over his looks and sex life.  In short, he was a jerk. And the one we had to listen to for pages and pages of his self involved outlook. Having David as the narrator was probably better, for if the roles had been reversed and we “saw” their life from Arthur’s perspective, than I don’t know that I could ever have found any affection for David, and that’s needed in order to buy into their long lived love affair.  Just one more issue I had with this story, my utter dislike of one of the main characters, no matter how well written the character.

David feels like a real human being, that’s great writing.  Still, it doesn’t make me want to spend time with him.   Only the sections from their past show a couple we could love and understand a little why they were drawn together. For me, that just wasn’t enough to overcome the issues that bothered me.

Finally, yes, that last chapters of the story had me in tears.  It unfolded so vividly that I felt as though I was there on this journey with them.  The writing is beautiful, the feelings it engendered so tender and loving towards both Arthur and David that I can feel the tears starting to form again just remembering these passages.

These pages made me want to rearrange and re edit this story, throwing whole sections away, leaving the parts that speak of love,the passage of time, and the possibility that it might be found once more before its too late.  But that’s not what John Inman wrote or what he intended to say in his story.  That’s the story you have to read and review.

So is it me?  Or is it this story?  Chasing the Swallows by John Inman still has me so conflicted.  And I suspect that this viewpoint will be felt by many readers out there.  Some, probably those less judgmental than myself, will find David less objectionable than I did and that feeling will make them view this story in a completely different light.  For me, like the swallows of the story (an amazing element that I adored), I will be finding my way home to another John Inman story…one that feels more like me, or at least more like a place I love spending time in.   Does this sound like a story for you?  The choice, as always, is up to you.

Cover art by Maria Fanning is probably one of my favorite covers for the month and perhaps the year. The subtle figures in the background enhance the picture of the swallow in the foreground. Just beautiful. Faded love and immediate beauty.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press eBook & Paperback –   All Romance (ARe) – Amazon     Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published April 17th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press LLC
ISBN139781632169181
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.dreamspinnerpress.com