Code Switching

Haven #2

by Lee Benoit

(Haven #1 can be found in the Beside Manner anthology)

For four years, Haven and his dancer-lover Tadeo have been living their happy-ever-after, raising their son and making a discreet home in Sister City. When a friend and patient dies of a rare pneumonia, their secure life is thrown into disarray. Attacks -- and support -- emerge from unexpected quarters as Nurse Haven Tucker returns in this story set at the dawn of the AIDS crisis. Haven was first seen in the Bedside Manner anthology.

The proceeds from this Charity Sip will be donated to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Genres: M M Romance

12 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Before dawn and after dark, Lee Benoit is a writer of queer fiction, some contemporary, some speculative, some historical. During the daylight hours she is a professor of sociology & anthropology. In the old days, Lee traveled the world doing field research. Nowadays, she lives in the middle of a New England hayfield where being a two-spirit single parent provides more than enough excitement. Lee also paints watercolors, bakes wild-yeast sourdough bread, and shares her bed with a pair of cats and an abjectly adoring hound-retriever mutt. Whenever she gets itchy feet and misses the world of research and advocacy, Lee invents a new world in her head and takes notes on what happens there.

Reviews

[Elizabetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just had to read more about Tadeo Neyen and Haven Tucker after their fast-paced, politically-charged romance in the first book in this series, Haven.

The time is around the emergence of the AIDs crisis in this country, when the world knew little about the ‘gay cancer’ that was taking scores of gay men.

Four years later, and Tadeo and Haven are raising Tadeo’s young son, Suyai, whose birth in book one catalyzed their romance. Haven continues his work with AIDs patients, in fact has become an activist for them. In this short story, we get more of a sense of the fear of this unknown disease. There are those in the multicultural neighborhood where he, Tadeo, and Suyai live who would turn against gay men for fear of ‘catching’ the disease. Even Tadeo worries that Haven might be at risk because of his work.

It is important to remember those days-- some thirty-five years in the past, long ago, and yet, not so long-- for the terror and the terrible loss of so many lives. I very much enjoyed this snippet of Tadeo and Haven’s lives and their continuing love.

For my review of book one: Haven
book three: Vade Mecum
book four: Last Dance

My thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book as it is out of print. My review was not affected by receiving this free copy (other than I could now write it). The author can be contacted for copies at leebenoit@charter.net

[Sadonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was kind enough to provide me with a copy of this story as it is currently out of print. This is part of the Haven series - #3 is part of the current Torquere Charity offering of It Gets Better and #1 was part of an anthology Changing Lives, also available at Torquere. I'm particularly partial to this story because it takes place during the time that I was going off to college and about the time that HIV/AIDS started appearing. There but for the grace of God go I.

Well written, poignant, realistic. I will be reading more by this author.