Four Calling Burds

by Vincent Meis

The four Burd siblings head to Mexico to heal and regroup after the death of their mother. Midlife crises are revealed. At the age of forty-seven, M wonders if she is too old to transition to the man she has been hiding inside her. Augie has a perfect gay family with a loving husband and an adorable  bi-racial son. And yet, something is missing. The charismatic Lio has squandered his marriage and relationship with his daughter in favor of a hedonistic lifestyle. The youngest sibling, AJ, is married to a man emboldened by the election of a fascist bully as president. It takes a kidnapping to shake them out of their self-absorption, sending them on a new journey.

 

73 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2019

About the author

In the 1980s and 90s Vincent Meis published a number of pieces, mostly travel articles, but also a few poems and book reviews, in publications such as, The Advocate, LA Weekly, In Style, and Our World. His travels have inspired his five novels, all set at least partially in foreign countries: Eddie’s Desert Rose (2011), Tio Jorge (2012), and Down in Cuba (2013), Deluge (2016) and Four Calling Burds (2019). Tio Jorge received a Rainbow Award in the category of Bisexual Fiction in 2012. Down in Cuba received two Rainbow Awards in 2013. Recently stories have been published in two collections: WITH:New Gay Fiction and Best Gay Erotica 2015.

Reviews

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the four Burd siblings and their stories of struggle. They are in their forties when they have to go back home after their mother’s death. We meet M here for the first time; later he would make an appearance in First Born Sons and Colton’s Terrible Wonderful Year. M is trans and when he decides to tell his family about transitioning, he isn’t met with any support. But things fall into place soon. AJ is in an abusive marriage but chooses to stay, until she is kidnapped. Her story arc is the one with emotional twists and turns that are an outcome of her own decisions. The next one is Augie who wishes to become a full-time writer but understands the financial implications of leaving a well-paying job. And the last one is Lio, who was a victim of pedophilia which left lasting mental impacts while also damaging his personal relationships, especially with his daughter.

One thing about the author’s works is that he keeps his characters raw, they have their own mishaps and mistakes and sometimes, there is scope for redemption while at the others, they have to accept their fates. There’s a married gay couple with a biological mixed-race son, who has his own story in another book by the author. And if you thought the story was an emotional rollercoaster, wait until you read the epilogue. A true page turner.

[ReadWithKate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you @vincentmeisauthor for sending me a copy of Four Calling Burds ine exchnage for an honest review!
This book focuses on four sibling, each going thorugh tough times. Two of them get kidnapped on Mexico and the others must find a way to save them.
I loved the writing! It keeps you glued to the page! The characters feels very realistic and I love how the author touches on important subjects while being respectful!
M is struggling with being trans and transitioning. He tells his siblings about this, but they don't react very well. Unfortunaely many people have bad reactions when you come out, but fortunately for M, his siblings end up coming around pretty quick and decide to support him. Arnie, M's husband, also is supportive of trans people, even if M's hasn't told him the newa yet. This gives me hope for the couple!
AJ is struggling with her marriage. She ends up being kidnapped and falls fro her captor. She later abandoned her family - her kids - to stay with her former captor simply because she couldn't face her husband. I understand her marriage was terrible and that it was tough to divorce, but you have to face the tough parts of life, running away won't fix them. That's what she learned at the end of her trip. I'm glad she returned home to her children and that she's finally moving forward to divorce her abusive husband.
Augie is struggling with leaving his office job to become a writer. he knows this may not make him a lot of money and worries, but fortunately, his husband and son support him!
Lio is dealing with his past trauma due to having been a victim of pedophilia and with trying to repair his relationship with his daughter. He succeds at the end, which is great!
I loved how realistic the responses to trauma are! It made the characters feel real!
The epilogue from their dead mom's POV, where she tells them she loves and supprots them always was the sweetes thing. I loved it!

TW:racism, transphobia, homophobia, rape, pedophilia, abusive husband, violence, death, terminal illness.

[Elaine Meis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine four siblings drifting apart as they stumble into their forties, each one focused on his or her midlife crisis. And then their mother’s death shakes their emotional foundations, prompting a trip to Mexico to regroup and heal. But the adventure to a popular resort town turns into a crisis of a different sort when a kidnapping occurs. Meis adeptly describes the complexities of siblings in a modern American family, the balance between rivalry and support, love and judgment. Flashbacks reveal how events shaped the two brothers and two sisters into the people they were at the time their mother passed away. The book is full of emotion, humor, and perplexing situations. Ultimately, we are left with the notion that the bond that holds them together will show the way forward. In the meantime the reader is graced with a trip to Mexico as well as a cast of colorful characters including a charming kidnapper, a drag performer, a sympathetic rancher/strongman, a trans man, and a conservative husband veering farther to the right with the election of a new president.Vincent Meis

[Matt McAvoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun and hugely entertaining, this light-hearted, humorous LGBTQ family drama is a very easy read. As four siblings gather following the death of their mother, each gradually reveals a little more about the trials and tribulations of their own personal lives. Not otherwise given much of an opportunity previously to bond, they are brought together more profoundly when two of them are kidnapped whilst on holiday in Mexico, whilst the other two work together to raise the ransom money.

Whilst cosy, gripping and enjoyable – and, at the same time, very difficult to put down – this book may not be to all tastes, but it is a definite winner in the LGBTQ genre. The crime caper storyline is something of an incidental subplot to the real premise of this book: a celebration of all things diverse. It is eye-rollingly liberal at times, with all the usual modern relationships ingredients: a married gay couple raising their biological mixed-race son; a woman divorcing her husband, in large part because of his political and non-inclusive views; a transgender schoolboy becoming a man, compelling his psychiatrist to face her own gender identity; a gay drag act who is finally accepted by his homophobic brother, amongst other subjects. But, this liberalism – this inclusivity and love – is the whole point of this book. Not my usual fare, I must admit, but a very welcome change. There is a great deal of warmth and compassion in Four Calling Burds, and it was a refreshing tonic for me to immerse myself in it, after receiving what seems like an endless run of books about war, poverty and Dystopian futures; I enjoyed the book immensely, it is fair to say.

That said, there were aspects of it which did not appeal to me at all, which seemed to pick up pace around the midway point and then intensify in their rhetoric. These reservations were not about the LGBTQ characters or the inclusive people around them, but rather the stereotypical disdain of some of the rest: Republicans are portrayed as typically inane, whilst the English football fans were no less than drunken violent homophobes and even rapists; there is even an Irish Catholic priest who is an abuser of young boys – meanwhile, we are reminded that the Mexican criminals are good-hearted, unfortunate victims of the U.S. immigration policy. It does seem that the non-inclusive-minded characters are painted as a very polar foil to the warm-hearted main characters. Of course, he who cannot be named (of the orange face and blond hair) receives copious contempt, against the virtuous Obama. As a straight, white male (not to mention an English fan of football), I have to be honest that these were moments which raised my eyebrows.

But, this book is not about them; it is a celebration, and it is superbly written. The characters are genuinely endearing, and the story is cosy and pleasant to engage. Being an author of the highest quality, it is clear to see why Vincent has received the very well-deserved accolades he has received in the LGBTQ book community, though I would truly recommend it to most readers. I look forward with fondness to one day enjoying Vincent’s warm, happy writing once again.