Jesse Pérez is still coming to terms with the death of his husband David. He’s bringing up their ten-year-old surrogate son Matthew to the best of his ability. Now, six months on from David’s passing, it’s a struggle. Jesse’s fifteen-year-old niece Gloria has run away from home and turned up at his door looking for help. She tells him she has been raped by somebody at her school, that she’s pregnant and wants an abortion. Taking her in will put Jesse on a collision course with his estranged family, who drove him out of Lubbock, Texas. But damn the consequences; he knows that helping Gloria is the right thing to do.

REFUGE is a highly charged, often harrowing novel that tackles some of the legal and moral issues of post-Roe v. Wade America, notably how a woman’s rights and freedom of choice can be wholly dependent on state lines. The book also deals with homophobia and fundamentalist religious views, examining how these can create irreparable schisms within families. With such weighty topics in play, it’s fortunate that the author is skilled enough to navigate these issues.

VanPatten’s characterization is excellent. The grieving Jesse is drawn with subtlety, the depth of his sadness shown in well-observed actions and a thoughtful interior narrative. This is matched by the desperate, nervous energy of Gloria as she looks for help after her horrific experience and the vitriol of the family that had also rejected Jesse when he came out to them.

Gloria appearing at Jesse’s door is a reminder of a past that he has tried to bury. His family’s vicious rejection of his sexuality still hurts. His father and mother’s slurs, his sister and her husband’s expressions of contempt. When he had called them to tell them his husband had died, they had told him it was God’s will because he was a sinner and that he would burn in hell. As Jesse recalls, “The words slithered through the phone like a snake’s hiss, sinking their fangs into his heart to deposit a venom that coursed through his veins for days.”

Yet with Gloria, here is a family member with whom he can connect. And, in her hour of need, she will be the catalyst that allows Jesse to move on from his hateful family and look to the future. There is a moment, shortly after her arrival, where they silently unite: “They kept their gazes on each other, two souls reaching across the short distance between them to break that invisible barrier that separates humans, sharing a moment of unspoken emotion.”

This is not an easy book to read, and it’s worth highlighting the fact that the instances of sexual abuse and homophobic language contained within may trigger certain readers. But REFUGE is a mature, compassionate work—and any readers who see it through to the end will find that it’s written with nuance and understanding.

Bill VanPatten’s REFUGE is a rewarding, affecting, disturbing, and memorable work with significant social commentary.

~Kent Lane for IndieReader