lgbtqiahistoricalromance:lgbtqiahistoricalromance:The Glass Minstrel by Hayden Thorne- It is the Chr
lgbtqiahistoricalromance:lgbtqiahistoricalromance:The Glass Minstrel by Hayden Thorne- It is the Christmas season in mid-19th century Bavaria. Two fathers, Abelard Bauer and Andreas Schifffer, are brought together through the tragic deaths of their sons. Bauer, a brilliant toymaker, fashions glass Christmas ornaments, and his latest creation is a minstrel with a secret molded into its features.When Schiffer sees Bauer’s minstrel ornament in the toy shop, he realizes that Bauer is struggling to keep his son’s memory alive through his craft. At first he tries to fault him for this, but then recognizes that he, too, is seeking solace and healing by reading his son’s diary, a journal that reveals, in both painful as well as beautiful detail, the true nature of Heinrich’s relationship with Stefan.Fifteen-year-old Jakob Diederich is the son of a poor widow. The boy is burdened with his own secret, and he develops an obsession with a traveling Englishman who stays at the inn where Jakob works. The lives of Bauer, Schiffer, and Diederich intersect during the holiday as Schiffer tries to focus on his family in the present, Bauer struggles to reconcile his past, and Jakob copes with an uncertain future.Echoing the sensibilities of melancholy 19th Century folktales, lyrical prose and rich period detail quietly weave a moving tale of redemption, hope, and haunting, but timeless, themes.ReviewFirst, let me start by saying this is not the traditional romance novel you will see mentioned on this blog. The romance is part of the past, fashioned in the entries of Heinrich’s journal, beautiful snippets of their time together. It’s the backstory, the present, and the future, rather all at one time. This is, however, definitely a love story. It’s about how the love of two men, and the aftermath of their being discovered, changed an entire village. It’s about things that are crafted, those that are broken in order to heal internal wounds, and the hope of what lies ahead when people put aside their own prejudices to embrace what love really is. There are characters you will dislike, those you will adore, and those that will develop from being one into another. The setting is so unique, and the descriptions are lush, while maintaining a cozy feeling of the snowy Bavarian village at its heart. This edition of this novel is now available for $2.99! “A #gayYA #historical novel set in 19th century Bavaria during the #Christmas season. Two grieving fathers and a teenage boy cross paths following a tragedy.“ via Hayden_Thorne on Twitter -- source link