This is my second review of a K.M. Soehnlein novel. The first was The World of Normal Boys. In that book, 13-year-old Robin was “vastly transformed” (my words) by the events of that story. The setting was New Jersey, circa 1978.
In You Can Say You Knew Me When, a young-30s Jamie returns home to New Jersey. The year is 2000. Is this Robin, re-branded inside a new family? No. These characters are cut from very different cloth. I don’t see how Robin evolves into Jamie under any conditions. But the fact that I still wonder about what happens to Robin over this timeline should tell you how much I enjoyed Normal Boys.
The sequel I dream about can wait another day. As a preview, I will say that this entirely new plot will receive the same enthusiastic cheer from me. But be warned that this is not a feel-good story. If you need a happy ending, you can grab any number of Michael Thomas Ford books. I find the dysfunction, anger, and deceit present in this book very raw and real.
Soehnlein takes two timelines, set in San Francisco 40 years apart, and weaves them so we can watch the dreams and agonies of youth play out side by side, evolving into the destructive and dysfunctional family that will connect them. The question at the core of this book is whether the dysfunction has repeated itself.
Jamie Garner arrives at his father’s funeral, five years after finding peace with a decision to never speak to him again. Although Jamie outed himself in a most unlady-like way, he never was accepted or even tolerated. This threatens to unfold as a standard son-seeks-love-he-never-had story, but twists appear when Jamie cleans out the attic and stumbles upon a photo of dad in a curious pose with a stunningly handsome man, who turns out to be the estranged Uncle Danny. A seed is planted: was dad’s homophobic nature rooted in experience? Did he have more in common with his dad than he previously thought?
Alas, a mystery unfolds, and Jamie’s quest for his Beatnik, Kerouac-quoting, San Francisco-living, younger father drives him to the brink of self-destruction. I personally cannot imagine that anyone would be this consumed by a quest like this, but I cannot imagine having been raised by a father like this either.
Unlike Robin, Jamie is not vastly transformed by the plot. His evolution is the slow stubborn pace of an adult. But also unlike Robin, Jamie is much improved. A lot of healing will need take place, but you sense that it has already begun.
There’s plenty to like about this book, including a beautifully-presented scene depicting the sex lives of senior gay men. Walt is a confident, retired man who’s on the hunt in a cruisy spot. He’s also happily partnered, and both men have come to realize that “you don’t stay together this long without something on the side.” Although Walt is used to providing his services with no expectation of reciprocity, Jamie is touched. The scene is hot. How sad that our society so rarely thinks so.
I lied earlier. It’s a bleak story, but it’s a feel-good story too, because I was compelled to thank my dad for not being Teddy Garner. I appreciate reminders to count my blessings.
Soehnlein is on my short list of favorite fiction writers. Enjoy this book.