 In
this issue The
Independent Gay Writer's
editor, Betty Conley, reviews the sensational novel by Ruth Sims,The Phoenix Let Betty know how you feel about the review, here |
| An
avid reader, Betty Conley is a Long Islander,
married, mother of three and grandmother of three. A retired Veterinary
Technician, Betty is now an active Wildlife Rehabilitator. Reading
novels by her favorite authors led to her sending fan email to them.
One thing led to another, and Betty landed the plush job of editing for
them. She also is an active and welcome editor for IGW. |
 The
PhoenixBy Ruth Sims The Writer’s Collective, 2005, $16.95, 344 pages ISBN 193213340-2 Ruth Sims’ debut novel, The Phoenix, begins in 1882 London. “But he’s coming today, Jack. I know he is.” Jack Roarke and his twin, Michael, dreaded their abusive father’s homecoming. Shortly after Tom Roarke’s return from the sea, the boys’ uncaring mother had enough of her husband’s beatings and left home, abandoning her sons. As Jack later states, “My father was a demon and my mother was a Whitechapel whore.” Money was scarce and the thirteen year old boys were frequently hungry. Escaping his father for awhile, Jack wandered the city streets. He noticed a theater and went inside. Fascinated, he watched a rehearsal. Lizbet, the theater owner, took an instant liking to the bruised, but beautiful blonde boy. She taught Jack to read, to speak proper English—his cockney accent was gone. Jack did odd jobs around the theater and acted in small roles. After a horrifying experience at home, involving his father, Lizbet took Jack away to St. Denys Hill, a country estate owned by her cousin, Xavier St. Denys. A wealthy entrepreneur and theater owner, St. Denys eventually adopted the boy. Jack’s name was changed to Christopher, later affectionately shortened to Kit. Under St. Denys’ tutelage, Kit grew to be an educated, cultured young man—and a talented actor. Kit was deeply saddened when his step-father died. He truly loved Xavier. As the only heir, Kit inherited St. Denys’ sizeable fortune. With the inheritance, Kit started his own repertory company. “The phoenix destroys itself in fire of its own making, then gives birth to itself again, endlessly.” Like the phoenix, Jack Roarke, street urchin, was reborn as Kit St. Denys, the famous and respected stage actor. “Four years before Jack Roarke was brought howling in protest into his squalid world, a boy was born to a self-taught physician and his wife, in a village lying on a slope of the Cotswolds.” Nicholas Stuart’s family was staunchly religious. Nick had to attended interminable three hour church services. Beyond boredom in church, Nick day-dreamed that he, “…ran barefoot in the thick green grass, or pranced with abandon in the rain, his head thrown back to catch raindrops on his tongue.” Nick’s devout father was both doctor and veterinarian to the residents of the area. From the age of nine, Nick was groomed to take his father’s place. As Nick matured, he realized he wanted to attend medical school to learn modern treatment methods. He didn’t want to be stuck in the country his entire life. Over his father’s objections, and with his mother’s covert help, Nick went to medical school. After graduation, he opened a clinic for London’s impoverished citizens. One night, a group of his classmates insisted Nick accompany them to see a production of Hamlet at the Xavier Theater. Nick couldn’t take his eyes off the play’s star, Kit. Nick returned night after night, using dinner money to buy tickets, spellbound by Kit’s portrayal of Hamlet. At the end of one performance, Kit injured his arm on a prop. The call for a doctor was answered by Nick. Kit was instantly attracted to handsome, blue-eyed Nick Stuart. They became lovers. For a year Kit and Nick led peaceful, happy lives, but Kit’s free and easy worldly ways frequently clashed with Nick’s basic religious ideals. Nick was frequently left with doubts…he feared God’s disapproval of his love for Kit. Kit suffered from terrible nightmares, always seeing his evil father coming to beat him…or worse. When Kit was with a man for the night, the nightmares weren’t so bad. He felt safer when he was held, just as he and Michael held each other as children, to comfort each other in the face of their father’s fury. Nick the Puritan, didn’t understand Kit’s promiscuous past. He accused him of sleeping with half the men in England. “Half Nico? Only half? My God, how did that happen?” Nick replied, “You bypassed the ugly, the insane, and the dead!” The Phoenix encompasses years and spans two continents, as the lovers’ paths providentially cross, time and time again. Never predictable, Ruth Sims smoothly guides the plot through unforeseen events as the lives of Kit St. Denys and Nick Stuart come together. During one of their sojourns, Kit gave Nick a rare book of Shakespearian sonnets. On the flyleaf Kit inscribed: Without
the sanction of
Society, Without the sanction of the Church, Without the sanction of God, I love you. Sims’ characters’ come to life on the pages of The Phoenix. Kit, Nick, and supporting characters are believable, indeed loveable, and true to the time they lived in. The author researched the era well. I found myself living in the story, seeing it unfold through Kit’s and Nick’s eyes. I was on the Brooklyn Bridge, “…marveling at the mighty grace of the twisted steel cables of the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”” Posh theaters in London and New York, and behind-the-scenes theater happenings came to life, as did the squalor of the slums of turn-of-the-century London and New York. Ruth Sims is a natural wordsmith. Sentences such as, “The clanging bells of ambulances sharpened the afternoon into a thousand knives.” ...are liberally peppered throughout The Phoenix. Sims’ first novel is a bona fide page turner. Just as Kit and Nick’s lives seem to once again settle down, a horror from the past appears, and threatens to destroy them. I literally gave up any semblance of social life to find out what would ultimately become of Kit and Nick. Without a doubt, The Phoenix is a solid five star read. |