Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Hawthorne Manor
AUTHOR: Bryan T. Clark
PUBLISHER: Cornbread Publishing
LENGTH: 243 Pages
RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2023
BLURB:
Mikael Ferreira seems to have it all—a great career, looks, intelligence, and charm to boot. But his work as a full-time caregiver at Hawthorne Manor barely leaves him time to breathe, let alone date. Then a new employee arrives at the manor and makes Mikael question whether he’s been living at all or merely existing…
Elliot Olsson is Mikael’s polar opposite. Elliot’s autism has always made him feel isolated. Until now. Mikael truly sees him in a way no one ever has. Elliot wants to open his heart to Mikael and connect with him on a deeper level. But wanting won’t make it any easier to overcome the obstacles Elliot knows they’ll face as a couple…
As Mikael and Elliot’s story is beginning, eighty-eight-year-old Walter Hawthorne’s is coming to an end. But while his health is fading, his mind is sharp as ever—and he has a thing or two to share about life, intimacy, and love with the two young men who seem to know nothing about any of it…
Hawthorne Manor, a contemporary LGBTQ+ romantic novel, is an exploration of the foibles of aging, friendship, love, and the beauty that can exist in a found family. It features a house full of eccentric characters, witty banter, and a deeply emotional M/M romance. HEA guaranteed. Download today, and welcome to Hawthorne Manor.
REVIEW:
Elliott Olssen lives with his Aunt Kathy after the death of his mother and then his grandfather. He got Asperger’s and has worked at a grocery for some time. But then he gets a much better job at Hawthorne Manor. He does what he’s asked and is able to do they work. There is a lot of noise sometimes which overstimulates him and he tends to keep to himself and not talk much. Then he runs in Mikael – Mr. Hawthorne’s nurse. Elliott recognized him from when they went to school together. He can’t tell if Mikael is flirting with him or not, but he does ask Mikael if he’s gay right away 😉
The other staff at Hawthorne Manor take care of Walter Hawthorne – world renowned and very wealthy pianist who is dying. There is the cook, the gardener, the housekeeper, the manager and Mikael. They all have formed a rather quirky found family. Elliott struggles with communication and Mikael inadvertently causes him pain and confusion a couple of times after they get together. It’s tough working that out as well as taking care of Walter.
Walter, for his part is an amazing man. He regales Elliott with the stories from his life. Many of them are difficult considering he was a gay black man in the 50s. He and the love of his life Spencer moved to France to get away from the issues in the US. They returned much later and then had to deal with AIDS and aging. And then Walter lost Spencer. He’s very ill and knows he’s dying and he’s actually OK with it. It’s those left behind that are struggling. And of course that imminent event does cause grief and struggle for all of the manor staff and impacts Elliott and Mikael’s fledgling relationship. But luckily they have support and help from family and friends.
What an amazing story. I wasn’t sure what all I’d find in this book, but let me say that it feels like a much longer book – both in a good and bad way. At the beginning, the pace was fairly slow and I was kind of waiting for something to happen. However, once Mikael and Elliott were able to communicate more effectively, the story took on a whole new life and meaning. Then there was Walter. Dear dear Walter. What an amazing character. He really was the glue of the interesting found family at the Manor. I really wish that Mr. Clark would write the story of Walter and Spencer. The stories he shared with Mikael and Elliott were I’m sure just the tip of the iceberg 😉 Mostly this is a story of finding love in the most unexpected of places. And about find and accepting who you are and what you need. Elliott shares his Asperger diagnosis with Mikael right away, but it takes some time for him to really understand what that means. He has several missteps, but he learns to read Elliott’s body language and understand when he messes up. He really cares about Elliott and he wants to make things right for him. Mikael is a guy who wears his heart on this sleeve, so he has a tendency to go all in pretty quickly. Walter understood this about him and tried to give him advice. Turns out Walter imparted his wisdom to everyone who is part of the Hawthorne Manor staff. It was sad to lose Walter in the story but his impact lived on in those he cared about. I rally just love dte way that this author portrayed Elliott and Mikael each dealing with their own issues and not always getting everything right. Certainly Elliott hadn’t had an easy time of it. Mikael was successful but he wasn’t really happy until he figured out that he could have a relationship with Elliott. I thought the third person narration so that we got both Elliott and Mikael’s POVs were crucial in making this story work. It was clear that communication was going to be the biggest hurdle for them and learning how to work together was just so well written. This isn’t an easy story by any means, but it’s deeply satisfying to see these really disparate characters figure out their HEA. Just lovely. Highly recommended.
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