In the novel The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers, author Joe Babcock takes the reader through the late teen years of Erick Taylor as he's coming of age, and coming out of the closet.
Erick struggles to find acceptance in all aspects of his life as he is discovering who he really is. Still grieving over the loss of his younger brother years before, Erick has ever since felt alone and rejected by his family, his peers, and society. Then he meets Chloe, a flamboyant gay drag queen who changes his entire attitude towards his life.
The novel takes place in the 90's and I found myself relating to the styles of the time, the rock and roll, drugs and sex atmosphere of the book. It was a time when I myself was coming of age. The struggles with identity are difficult and very parallel, whether coming of age straight or gay.
Erick aches to be loved and accepted, but his parents, too lost in their own grief over the loss of their younger son, adopt a "replacement" for him, and overlook the needs of the oldest. Erick distances more and more from them, and eventually, just outright leaves to move in with his new best friend Chloe.
Chloe represents for Erick, freedom and everything he longs to be: independent, openly gay, uninhibited and popular. Plus Chloe becomes a sort of idol to Erick, who decides his life's dream is to be a drag queen: Miss Geneva Flowers. Through battles with gender crises, drug addiction, and finding love, the novel takes a deep look into the psyche of Erick. At 16/17 he is forced by circumstance and his own choices, he is forced to grow up very quickly. It isn't until the end of the novel and when he loses that which he professes to love the most, Chloe that he finds out that he can indeed love himself as well and be free to be himself. With that and opening up in honesty to his family, he finds a sort of peace and some acceptance there where he least expected it.
This novel had me from page one. The dialog is so colourful that I could hear the voices in my head as I read. Chloe's character reminding me of a friend of my own, came to life very vividly on the page. Erick, an angsty teen, is a character that anyone who has had any sort of identity struggle can relate to, not just Gays. I found myself unable to put the book down.
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