Five stars for Pierre & Bill!
Pierre & Bill, a Love Story
By Patrick Doyle
Published by the author, December 2021
Five stars
Review by Ulysses Deitz
How can a book have all the elements of a “classic” gay romance, and yet not be one? You’ll have to read Patrick Doyle’s “Pierre & Bill” to find out. It is familiar in its real-ness, and it resonated deeply with me.
Pierre and Bill are not a couple. They’re not father and son, either. They do, however, love each other and have lived together for a long time. Pierre is a retired construction worker, and Bill is a high-school art teacher, more than thirty years Pierre’s junior. I wanted to simply define their relationship as parent/child, but the author (and his characters) really don’t want that. Also, as we enter the story, set in Canada in the present day, Pierre and Bill’s relationship is undergoing a sea change.
Things get complicated in their cozy life when Pierre’s health is suddenly in question—and the Bill encounters a challenge at work that threatens the security he and Pierre have built together. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, two young men, both younger than Bill, enter their life and cause further emotional confusion. Danny and Liam are very different from each other, and the author portrays them with as much care and loving detail as he lavishes on Bill and Pierre.
While the plot is important—dealing with difficult issues and real-world truths—it really is the complex emotional interconnections among the four main characters that make the story so satisfying and relatable. No matter how much we want it to be, life is never simple. Love and loss, justice and injustice, acceptance and rejection: these are the things that Pierre and Bill have to deal with.
Pierre may be a stubborn old coot (he is, I note, exactly my age), but Bill is rather a whiny child at times. Bill is not flawless, and his flaws struck home as I read the story, which takes place entirely through his eyes. Ultimately this is a gentle book, about gentle men yearning for happiness and security. It’s nothing new, but somehow it all felt very different, thanks to the author’s deft handling of the narrative.
By Patrick Doyle
Published by the author, December 2021
Five stars
Review by Ulysses Deitz
How can a book have all the elements of a “classic” gay romance, and yet not be one? You’ll have to read Patrick Doyle’s “Pierre & Bill” to find out. It is familiar in its real-ness, and it resonated deeply with me.
Pierre and Bill are not a couple. They’re not father and son, either. They do, however, love each other and have lived together for a long time. Pierre is a retired construction worker, and Bill is a high-school art teacher, more than thirty years Pierre’s junior. I wanted to simply define their relationship as parent/child, but the author (and his characters) really don’t want that. Also, as we enter the story, set in Canada in the present day, Pierre and Bill’s relationship is undergoing a sea change.
Things get complicated in their cozy life when Pierre’s health is suddenly in question—and the Bill encounters a challenge at work that threatens the security he and Pierre have built together. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, two young men, both younger than Bill, enter their life and cause further emotional confusion. Danny and Liam are very different from each other, and the author portrays them with as much care and loving detail as he lavishes on Bill and Pierre.
While the plot is important—dealing with difficult issues and real-world truths—it really is the complex emotional interconnections among the four main characters that make the story so satisfying and relatable. No matter how much we want it to be, life is never simple. Love and loss, justice and injustice, acceptance and rejection: these are the things that Pierre and Bill have to deal with.
Pierre may be a stubborn old coot (he is, I note, exactly my age), but Bill is rather a whiny child at times. Bill is not flawless, and his flaws struck home as I read the story, which takes place entirely through his eyes. Ultimately this is a gentle book, about gentle men yearning for happiness and security. It’s nothing new, but somehow it all felt very different, thanks to the author’s deft handling of the narrative.
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