Hiatus

Almost forty years ago, Frank and Michael met at a summer camp and fell in love. Now, life offers them a chance to reunite through a tragic chance: the death of Michael’s wife, Nadja, who had seen the two of them nearly kissing about ten years before. Fate practically steps in to bring the two of them together, as Nadja’s will tells Michael to “find him before it’s too late” and the ghost of Frank’s aunt, Emma, tells him to turn on the television just in time to hear about Nadja’s death. What follows is a beautiful love story between two men, who have each found different ways to leave behind an attachment that can never be truly forgotten.

Belangela Tarazona does a wonderful job at telling a tragic story without making it seem melodramatic. The emotions Michael and Frank feel for one another are understated to the point of feeling almost too quiet at times, but it is that quietness that gives them such strength. Even the grand gestures of love feel like they could fit into the world I know, and there were times in the book when I truly believed Frank and Michael could be real people, living out real struggles. The only complaint I had was that I wanted to have more from it.

Hiatus is a short book, and I wish Tarazona could have delved deeper into Michael’s family. His children are intriguing characters, and even in such a short space, it feels as though they have a life of their own, but I wanted to know more about that life, too, beyond their reactions to Michael’s sexuality. I wanted to see more than the beautiful, understated flashes I was given.

Short though it was, I very much enjoyed this book, and considered it well worth reading. It’s a story unlike any I’ve read before and easily one of the best love stories I’ve read recently.