This book provides a window into what it might be like to be a Black man of a certain generation who has a gay son. The narrator struggles throughout the book to reconcile the way his culture taught him to view “manhood” with the reality of having a son who is gay. He repeatedly tries to accept his son for who he is, but never quite makes it. As a reader, it was difficult to see how many times he made attempts at reconciliation, only to withdraw again into his traditional upbringing. The cultural differences are complicated for an outsider to understand, and this book didn’t quite help me gain the necessary understanding to find the character believable. Even so, I did learn a lot about a culture that’s unfamiliar to me.

What a heartbreaker. I'm not much, frankly, for novels-in-letters, but the advance praise made me want to read it.

This is not just a series of letters from a father to his gay son. Jacob's retelling of his family's history is a poignant and painful journey through Reconstruction to the early 2000s. It's also about regret and the wounds that cannot heal.

Librarians/booksellers: This is a perspective rarely found in fiction; it's quite unique and it will linger with you long after you finish it.

Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing/Hanover Square Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book immediately immerses you and makes your heart throb from the forward. With that authors note in mind, the story of a father writing letters to his estranged son on his death bed takes on an extra depth. The authors attempt as a son to understand his fathers ideas on being Black, a man and what it means to love was moving and heartbreaking at the same time.

The letters take you to Arkansas and tell of a man raised in the country where love meant respect and nothing more. Men were meant to be strong, women in the kitchen and boys playing sports and chasing girls. The story then moves to Kansas City and a new life with a wife and a baby boy. Throughout, the father tries to connect with his son, but finds he can’t when his son is soft, feminine, gay and artistic.

It is a gentle reminder to tell the people you love them while you can. To embrace them, as they are and work to learn about the things you do not know.

I enjoy the letters in this book since they cover a wide range of themes. At times, this book brought me to tears. I've read a number of books written from the standpoint of queer people to their parents, but this one is written from the perspective of a parent (father) to his queer kid.

I have nothing but good words for this beautiful novel. Daniel Black has taken from his own life with the experience of his father dying and has put every emotion into the character Jacob, an African American man who is dying of cancer. Jacob and his son Isaac never had a very good relationship, but Jacob wanted to be able to tell his son everything about his life, why he was the way he was and why he was not the best father to his gay son Isaac, before he passes away.

The entire novel is a series of letters from Jacob to Isaac that focus on so many things. From growing up, to manhood, to being African American, to ancestors, to parenting, etc. Nothing goes unsaid. As with many father and son relationships, especially Black fathers and sons, often feelings and emotions are never ever discussed. Jacob never understood why his son was different from who he thought he should be, and this novel is an entire processing and understanding of how and why Jacob thought and acted the way he has throughout Isaac's life.

Painful. Beautiful. Haunting. Revelatory, Real.

Daniel Black has a way with prose, especially with this letter format. It totally reflected the relationship I have with my own father, and the relationship I have seen with many of the queer people close to me with their fathers. It's a book that was both painful for me to read, but also healing. Sometimes we don't always look deeply at why people are the way they are and why they behave the way they are. Although there can't always be an excuse for why a parent treats a child so poorly, there are often real and complicated reasons as to why people are the way they are, and this novel brings so much understanding and closure to that.

I think a lot of people will be able to find healing in this book, especially fathers and queer sons. I truly wish Daniel Black has so much success with this book, and I look forward to seeing how many people it helps.

Thank you Net Galley, Hanover Square Press, and Daniel Black for the copy of the e-book in exchange for an honest review.