Brother & Sister Enter the Forest: A Novel
General fiction, Family stories
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
Summary
Finalist for the Lambda Literary AwardsA New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceOpening like a fairy tale and ending like a nightmare, this cannonball of a queer coming-of-age novel follows a young man's relationship with a violent older boyfriend—and how… he and his sister survive a terrible crimeAfter years of severed communication, Justin appears on his sister&’s doorstep needing a place to stay. The home he's made for himself has collapsed, as has everything else in his life. When they were children, Willa played the role of her brother&’s protector, but now, afraid of the chaos he might bring, she&’s reluctant to let him in.Willa lives a carefully ordered life working as a nurse and making ornate dioramas in her spare time. As Justin tries to connect with the people she&’s closest to—her landlord, her boyfriend, their mother—she begins to feel exposed. Willa and Justin&’s relationship has always been strained yet loving, frustrating and close. But it hits a new breaking point when Justin spirals out of control, unable to manage his sobriety and the sustained effects of a brain injury.Years earlier, in high school, desperate to escape his home life and his disapproving, troubled mother, Justin falls into the hands of his first lover, a slightly older boy living on his own who offers Justin some semblance of intimacy and refuge. When Justin&’s boyfriend commits a terrifying act of violence, the two flee on a doomed road trip, a journey that will damage Justin and change his and his family&’s lives forever.Weaving together these two timelines, Brother & Sister Enter the Forest unravels the thread of a young man&’s trauma and the love waiting for him on the other side.