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Published: July 23, 2011
Words: 43,480 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781465826596
Short description
Charles was shipped to an institution when he was fourteen after being caught in an act of youthful desire. He couldn't know that he was a pawn in an old and personal war, but he returned twenty years later set on revenge for all he had been through and witnessed, and lost. This is his journey.Extended description
Charles is 14, and after being discovered with his first love he is forced into a mental hospital to cure his sexuality . For the next ten years he endures mental and physical torture as part of that treatment and when he is finally free, he begins a relentless quest for vengeance against the woman who abetted his commitment, his mother Charlotte.The Value of Rain chronicles Charles’ journey from hate to the unexpected beginning of redemption, and reveals the destructive nature of families, secrets and revenge.
Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages. For more information, see the Support FAQ.
Tags
lgbt, ebook, glbt, gay fiction, queer lit, glbt fiction, gay literature, fiction gay, gay teen, exgay, exgays, gay ebooksAvailable ebook reading formats
Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.| Format | Full Book | Sample First 20% |
|---|---|---|
| Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser) | Buy | View sample |
| Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps) | Buy | Download sample |
| Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others) | Buy | Download sample |
| LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub) | Buy | Download sample |
| Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices) | Buy | Download sample |
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Review by:
Robert Brosius
on Jan. 23, 2012 :
This book is totally absorbing. Though the storyline took me places I've never been, the human experiences, the feelings of adolescent love, the pain and anguish of loss, the tortures and torments of life, the rare second chances, the discovery of the beauty and wonders of life and love, are all things I could relate to. Once I started the book, it captivated me, took over my imagination, held me captive until the end. I'm aglow with the warmth and life in its pages, words and images. One of the best books I've read in a long, long time.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)
Review by:
Wayne Bentley
on Aug. 26, 2011 :
"There are dead people in my head." From the opening line to last, The Value of Rain by Brandon Shire seizes your heart and does not let go, even long after the book is closed. The story of a family that fuses love to hatred and life to death and rolls those two fusions together, so that it is impossible to ever separate them. Though only a few scenes take place in New Orleans, The Value of Rain echoes the southern gothic tradition, entangled and hidden bloodlines and all. Indeed Flannery O'Connor and Eudora Welty would be comfortable in this world, and would be envious of the writer. The characters are strong in their weaknesses, and their strengths always betray them. A first act of physical love propels a young boy from his already precarious existence into the living hell of a psychiatric hospital for a hideous 'cure' for his gayness. Charles's non-chronological narrative of his journey through that hell, and all that follows, is told with an unerring eye for detail, both physical and emotional. The Value of Rain also shows the strong emotionally warping effect of revenge; given the chance to escape, to just be loved for himself, Charles finds he can not let go of the emotional and deadly pas de deux with his mother Charlotte. This is a lyrically beautiful book, masterfully woven with intense emotion, insightful and frightening in its clarity.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
C.L. H o d g e
on Aug. 03, 2011 :
The Value of Rain is a tale of clausterphobic intensity about a young boy whose life is almost destroyed by his outrage to take revenge on those who harmed him twenty years earlier. This is a story about lost love for all the wrong reasons. It is about family scheming to keep secrets hidden and to keep lives from progressing. I was in tears at times to learn of the pain young Charles encountered. I connected with this character and our emotions felt as though they were continuously conversing with each other. This is an extremely well written tale. Brandon Shire is a name that I expect to break out onto the pages of literature for quite some time to come.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)