Army of Lovers

California author K.M. Soehnlein continues to stand in the spotlight of brilliant contemporary authors who seamlessly blend historical information with eloquent stories about the LGBTQ community that become classics upon release! His novel THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS won the Lambda Literary Award, and his subsequent novels - ROBIN AND RUBY and YOU CAN SAY YOU KNEW ME WHEN - garnered large receptive audiences. While continuing to teach creative writing at the University of San Francisco, he now offers ARMY OF LOVERS, and most assuredly more awards will come!Soehnlein knows well the core of the activist ACT UP and Queer Nation response to the dark cloud of AIDS, having served as an activist responder in the 1980s and 90s. With that innate knowledge and experience he has molded a novel that documents reality, yet also spins a story so rich in compassion and love and the demands for justice that the reader is transported to that period – with, hopefully, concomitant understanding and empathy.The provided summary on the book’s back cover suggests the content – ‘Arriving in New York City full of idealism, Paul discovers the queer community gathering strength in the face of government inaction and social stigma. As he protests, parties, and makes a new home, he finds himself pulling away from his HIV-negative boyfriend to pursue an intense bond with a passionate, HIV-positive artist. Paul’s awakening parallels ACT UP’s rise, successes, and controversies. And then everything shifts again, as his family is thrust into their own life-and-death struggle that tests him even further.’If there were more than 5 stars to rate this book I would go to the maximum number. This is a brilliant book by an enormously gifted author who factually and realistically documented the still unresolved ‘pandemic’ of HIV and the ACT UP response movement better than almost anyone writing today. Yes, this book deals with gay issues (very well) and that can only be another reason for everyone to read it. Highly recommended!I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book