"But what a pain in the ass it was being the stable,
even-keeled one! When do I get to be the mess and have people take care of me?
Milly thought."
Loved it!!! One of those novels that I "feel" so much it is difficult to describe. I picked it up at the airport by chance, and I do not understand how come I have not heard about it before, such a great novel as it is!
For me this book is, mainly, the story of a mother and a son, the story of an unconditional love that goes beyond blood relations, years, heartbreaking decisions. It made me cry and it broke my heart together with Millimom's.
Christodora is such a full book, full of history, the east village new York gay scene in the 80s and 90s, the HIV/AIDS campaign, the drugs so many people in the NY bohemian scene were doing at the time. It is an historical masterpiece of that era, that environment.
And it describes the drug trips, the ups and the lows so well, it almost makes you feel tripping too, you feel every crave, heartbeat, sensation.
Like with A little life (read my review here), it is a setting so far from my world and yet so poignantly close to my heart for whatever strange reason.
It is a novel about love, hope, fight for what you believe in but also about sorrow, sadness and redemption.
A must read, one of the best reads for me this year and of the past few years too.
Overall rating: 9 Plot: 9 Writing style: 9,5 Cover: 9
Title: Christodora
The Christodora is home to Milly and Jared, a privileged young couple with artistic ambitions. Their neighbour, Hector, a Puerto Rican gay man who was once a celebrated AIDS activist but is now a lonely addict, becomes connected to Milly's and Jared's lives in ways none of them can anticipate. Meanwhile, the couple's adopted son, Mateo, grows to appreciate the opportunities for both self-realization and oblivion that New York offers. As the junkies and protestors of the 1980s give way to the hipsters of the 2000s and they, in turn, to the wealthy residents of the crowded, glass-towered city of the 2020s, enormous changes rock the personal lives of Milly and Jared and the constellation of people around them. Moving kaleidoscopically from the Tompkins Square Riots and attempts by activists to galvanize a response to the AIDS epidemic, to the New York City of the future, Christodora recounts the heartbreak wrought by AIDS, illustrates the allure and destructive power of hard drugs, and brings to life the ever-changing city itself.
The Author:
Tim Murphy has reported on HIV/AIDS for twenty years, for such publications as POZ Magazine, where he was an editor and staff writer, Out, Advocate, and New York Magazine, where his cover story on the new HIV-prevention pill regimen PrEP was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Journalism. He also covers LGBT issues, arts, pop culture, travel, and fashion for publications including The New York Times and Condé Nast Traveler. He lives in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley.
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