Beards

by Cheyenne Isles

As soon as she was old enough to escape her prejudiced Georgian hometown, Audra Lynch ran away to New York looking for the freedom to be herself. It was there that she met the beautiful Vivian Porter whom she fell deeply in love with. Everything about her was perfect, except for one thing: she was married. The marriage, however, wasn’t what it seemed. Her husband, Nathan, was gay and in a relationship with his longtime partner William McMahon.

Five years later, in 1959, Audra and William find themselves following in their partners’ footsteps and preparing for a wedding of their own to help hide the truth about their relationships. As the date draws nearer, Audra begins to question their decision when she starts feeling as trapped as she did back in Georgia. While she contemplates her upcoming nuptials to William, Vivian and Nathan find themselves faced with a big decision: one that could impact all their lives.

Genres: Fiction

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 15, 2024

Reviews

[taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's taken me a little while to collect my thoughts about this read. I found the characters' experiences to be painful situation after painful situation with minimal emotional payoff. It was pretty relentless angst. Audra was the only character that showed much common sense, and everyone treated her like poo (including her gf) and bagged on her for most of the story.

I will say that I'm pretty shocked that there have been no trigger warnings mentioned in anything I've read about this book because it was loaded with them.

Here are a couple of notable ones: period-typical homophobia, period-typical racism, misogyny, excessive drinking, questionably consensual (straight) sex, sexual trauma (flashbacks), infidelity, and miscarriage.

At first, I thought that the excess angst might be due to the setting (1950s): queer characters and patriarchial dominance of the female characters... but then I realized Ann Bannon set her stories in a similar era, and they were MUCH less triggering. Sooo can't blame it on the '50s, I guess.

The story is touted as an LGBTQ story, but structurally the story is spent primarily in heterosexual pairings. We spend very little time getting to know the same-sex couples, and when they are together it's in conflict. I could not BELIEVE the attitude of these characters at times. This book reminded me of lesbians in cinematic history -- you know the ones who live lives of pain, vilified, or killed off in the end? The vibes were very that.

I could go on, but I think that's the jist of it. Viviene and Nathan are a textbook for toxicity, gaslighting, and internalized misogyny. Will was the only relief for the reader in this high drama, high angst period piece. Audra deserved so much better.

(I gave 2.5 stars because I sure as hell couldn't write a book, so although the story was VERY triggering, I have a lot of respect for people who do write and put themselves out there like that.)

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give me angst and give me drama - this book was full of it and I am here for it. This book was completely character driven through multiple POVs and what I loved was that they felt like real people: complex, troubled, and painfully human. The story starts in the midst of trouble already on the horizon and we follow the four characters as they navigate a series of bad situations - several of which are self-inflicted. The characters felt so real I was becoming frustrated as if I knew them, angry with choices but understanding as to why choices were made. (Having suffered through modern day society pressures myself, I can only imagine the harsh reality of the 50s, especially when the era isn't glorified like in some books). It definitely took me on a rollercoaster of emotions but in a good way. I'm giving this a 4.5 star. The only reason I dropped the half star is because I would have loved to see more of the couples backstories together.

Also, PSA: I believe everyone needs a Will in their life.

[telma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful debut novel. The characters can be frustrating to hear, and I think I’d personally like to drown some 😂 but that is part of a believable character, you can feel them. I may not agree with their choices or how they go about what they do but the characters feel true to themselves. The books raises lots of emotions in me, anger, mostly, and pity and unfairness of life. A great drama. Spoiler there are lots of triggers and difficult topics. Looking forward to the next one!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful debut novel about complex relationships and learning to be true to yourself! This is a character-driven story that recognizes that in the end, we are all human, with all of our strengths and flaws. Each character was distinct and had a different perspective on the events that occurred throughout the book, which made for a very real and emotional story. I loved the character growth of Audra especially. I think there were some minor pacing issues, but overall a very enjoyable read!

[Lauretta Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, good characters. A story about a period in time when you couldn’t be with whom you loved. I didn’t know what a “beard” was till I read this book, lol.
Loved the story, and the many characters, I wouldn’t be friends with Audi though. I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the group!
Give it a read!