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Adam's Star
Adam, in his early 20s, has to balance the need to develop his career as a pro musician with the demands of home life – he runs a vineyard in France – and partner Sylvain. The arrival in his life of Josh – they meet on a concert tour – adds extra pressure. Though Sylvain, left at home to manage the vineyard, has his own ideas for self-advancement.
This third and final volume in the Adam trilogy stands alone also: a self-contained story of life, partnership and, inevitably, music.
This third and final volume in the Adam trilogy stands alone also: a self-contained story of life, partnership and, inevitably, music.
333 pages, paperback
Published May 20, 2019
30 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Anthony McDonald
68 books107 followersAnthony McDonald studied history at Durham University. He worked very briefly as a musical instrument maker and as a farm labourer before moving into the theatre, where he has worked in almost every capacity except those of Director and Electrician.
His first novel, Orange Bitter, Orange Sweet, was published in 2001 and his second, Adam, in 2003.
Orange Bitter, Orange Sweet became the first book in a Seville trilogy that also comprises Along The Stars and Woodcock Flight.
Other books include the sequel to Adam, - Blue Sky Adam - and the stand-alone adventure story, Getting Orlando.
Ivor's Ghosts, a psychological thriller, was published in April 2014.
The Dog In The Chapel, and Ralph: Diary of a Gay Teen, both appeared in 2014. Anthony is the also the author of the Gay Romance series, which comprises ten short novels.
Anthony McDonald's short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic
He has also written the scripts for several Words and Music events, based around the lives and works of composers including Schubert and Brahms, which have been performed in Britain and in Portugal.
His travel writing has appeared in the Independent newspaper.
After several years of living and teaching English in France McDonald is now based based in rural East Sussex.
His first novel, Orange Bitter, Orange Sweet, was published in 2001 and his second, Adam, in 2003.
Orange Bitter, Orange Sweet became the first book in a Seville trilogy that also comprises Along The Stars and Woodcock Flight.
Other books include the sequel to Adam, - Blue Sky Adam - and the stand-alone adventure story, Getting Orlando.
Ivor's Ghosts, a psychological thriller, was published in April 2014.
The Dog In The Chapel, and Ralph: Diary of a Gay Teen, both appeared in 2014. Anthony is the also the author of the Gay Romance series, which comprises ten short novels.
Anthony McDonald's short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic
He has also written the scripts for several Words and Music events, based around the lives and works of composers including Schubert and Brahms, which have been performed in Britain and in Portugal.
His travel writing has appeared in the Independent newspaper.
After several years of living and teaching English in France McDonald is now based based in rural East Sussex.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 20, 2021
When we get together, we are all happy.
But life is not easy dealing with being gay and being professional musicians. Add in owning an vineyard and having teaching jobs. Travel and schedules become challenging. Having a group of reliable friends makes is the only thing that holds it all together.
But life is not easy dealing with being gay and being professional musicians. Add in owning an vineyard and having teaching jobs. Travel and schedules become challenging. Having a group of reliable friends makes is the only thing that holds it all together.
June 14, 2020
A SOAP OPERA...
but an extremely well written one. Before reading Adam's Star, I was unfamiliar with McDonald's work, or his two preceding volumes in this trilogy. So this review is not influenced by any of that. On its face, all the principal characters in this story are gay and most in "long term" relationships of various lengths. Almost all of these men also seem to have a past with one another and in some way, mostly carnal. They are also all "A-listers" who live in Chateaus among the vineyards of southern France, or in trendy flats in London or Belgium. All professionals, the two principal characters are musicians, but the other men in their world are painters, vinters, barristers, prestigious educators, and culinary masters. It's all pretty high-brow.
If McDonald is pushing any theme in this novel it's monogamy. On tour together are two professional musicians: Adam, who has a life partner he dearly loves and is committed to, and Josh, single, a superior talent to Adam, and lonely. The latter has fallen for his less accomplished concert partner and the former tries to suppress similar feelings . The only tension in the very straight forward plot is "will Adam or won't Adam" transgress on his pledged fidelity to his partner, Slyvain.
Both Adam and Josh are in their twenties and gorgeous examples of the male form. So is Slyvain for that matter. Certainly the book is more entertaining to read than if these men were ugly as sin, but the stereotype is conspicuously apparent. McDonald happily comments on youth, beauty, and ageism in gay culture. In fact none of the six young and middle-aged couples, or the several single gay men in their circle are described as anything other than very attractive. I could not tell if McDonald was making any moral judgement about gay lust and Judeo-Christian monogamy, but he certainly reinforces the stereotype that abstinence is rare among young, physically beautiful gay men.
McDonald's prose is beautiful. His metaphors richly paint the scenes he describes. The characters created are vivid three dimensional people. At the very end of the novel, McDonald, a historian by training, waxes philosophic about history, music, and art. This treatise seemed only moderately relatable to the story. Disjointed, it seemed, at the end, he was only trying to use the book as a platform to make some points.
Say what you will, but my mother was a devoted fan of the TV soap, "Days of Our Lives," for many, many years. She loved "her stories" and watched this show religiously. If you're of the "gay sensibility" and like soap opera, you'll likely love this story. Surprising to myself, in the end, I did.
but an extremely well written one. Before reading Adam's Star, I was unfamiliar with McDonald's work, or his two preceding volumes in this trilogy. So this review is not influenced by any of that. On its face, all the principal characters in this story are gay and most in "long term" relationships of various lengths. Almost all of these men also seem to have a past with one another and in some way, mostly carnal. They are also all "A-listers" who live in Chateaus among the vineyards of southern France, or in trendy flats in London or Belgium. All professionals, the two principal characters are musicians, but the other men in their world are painters, vinters, barristers, prestigious educators, and culinary masters. It's all pretty high-brow.
If McDonald is pushing any theme in this novel it's monogamy. On tour together are two professional musicians: Adam, who has a life partner he dearly loves and is committed to, and Josh, single, a superior talent to Adam, and lonely. The latter has fallen for his less accomplished concert partner and the former tries to suppress similar feelings . The only tension in the very straight forward plot is "will Adam or won't Adam" transgress on his pledged fidelity to his partner, Slyvain.
Both Adam and Josh are in their twenties and gorgeous examples of the male form. So is Slyvain for that matter. Certainly the book is more entertaining to read than if these men were ugly as sin, but the stereotype is conspicuously apparent. McDonald happily comments on youth, beauty, and ageism in gay culture. In fact none of the six young and middle-aged couples, or the several single gay men in their circle are described as anything other than very attractive. I could not tell if McDonald was making any moral judgement about gay lust and Judeo-Christian monogamy, but he certainly reinforces the stereotype that abstinence is rare among young, physically beautiful gay men.
McDonald's prose is beautiful. His metaphors richly paint the scenes he describes. The characters created are vivid three dimensional people. At the very end of the novel, McDonald, a historian by training, waxes philosophic about history, music, and art. This treatise seemed only moderately relatable to the story. Disjointed, it seemed, at the end, he was only trying to use the book as a platform to make some points.
Say what you will, but my mother was a devoted fan of the TV soap, "Days of Our Lives," for many, many years. She loved "her stories" and watched this show religiously. If you're of the "gay sensibility" and like soap opera, you'll likely love this story. Surprising to myself, in the end, I did.
December 16, 2025
This series gets worse the more it goes on. Adam remains as obnoxious as ever. He just has no redeeming qualities. His regard for Sylvain as his 'life partner' seems to be a half-hearted one of resignation or duty rather than an exuberant joy of having the love of such a wonderful man. Unlike the previous two books in the series, sex doesn't really form a part of this one. We have the constant question of, 'Will he, won't he?', in the relationship between Adam and Josh, always expecting Adam to give way, knowing what we do of him, and yet at the end of the day, even though he by and large resists the temptation, it doesn't really feel like it is anything to Adam's credit because he shouldn't even have been tempted in the first place, and the thing that restrains him from giving way to his feelings is merely the fact that he is afraid of being found out.
It's sad that his and Sylvain's relationship ends up having to be a coercive and controlling one in order for it to actually work because Adam simply can't be trusted to remain faithful if left entirely to his own devices. Adam just can't help himself. And Sylvain ends up having to become a bit of a villain because he can't trust Adam out of his sight. As in the previous books, Adam has no regard for honesty and will lie to Sylvain in an instant to get himself out of trouble and he doesn't even have a theoretical desire to be totally transparent with him - he doesn't think it is necessary or worthwhile for life partners to even attempt or allow themselves to get to know each other inside out. He just wants to maintain a comfortable status quo.
The book felt way too long. It was like McDonald just sat down and wrote it and published it as it was, without ever going back to revise it, to tighten it up, to remove all the superfluities (not to mention all the typos). The constant recaps of things that had happened, sometimes just a few sentences or a few pages earlier, and the constant need to mention every single person by name (and the cello) and all their tiny movements, drove me crazy. Could we not just be told that 'everyone went into the house' without having to be told who unlocked the door and who went in first, and who came second, and who entered third, etc.? The whole book just felt so long-winded and tediously repetitive. The announcement of Josh's demise was the 'best' part of the book, in terms of being the most moving moment in the whole book - but it was just a moment, and then it was straight back into the mundane and tedious manner of storytelling. Adam being raped should have been a massive thing and yet it was treated like it was no big deal.
There were some references to the Bible's teaching on homosexuality which were completely false so I'm not sure whether McDonald was simply misinformed or if he deliberately misrepresented its teachings in order to try to make Christian beliefs and homosexual activity seem compatible with each other. It was very weird to read such blatant falsehoods and I can't see who would benefit by being mis-led into believing such erroneous statements were true.
My advice would be to just read the first book in the series (Adam) and then stop while the going is good because it's all downhill from then on. It would be better to end the first book and allow your imagination to concoct a happy ending for Adam and Sylvain, because the 'reality' of how the actually novels take the story forward is disappointing to say the least, though there are obviously a lot of (to me, incomprehensible) 5-star ratings which put me in a minority.
It's sad that his and Sylvain's relationship ends up having to be a coercive and controlling one in order for it to actually work because Adam simply can't be trusted to remain faithful if left entirely to his own devices. Adam just can't help himself. And Sylvain ends up having to become a bit of a villain because he can't trust Adam out of his sight. As in the previous books, Adam has no regard for honesty and will lie to Sylvain in an instant to get himself out of trouble and he doesn't even have a theoretical desire to be totally transparent with him - he doesn't think it is necessary or worthwhile for life partners to even attempt or allow themselves to get to know each other inside out. He just wants to maintain a comfortable status quo.
The book felt way too long. It was like McDonald just sat down and wrote it and published it as it was, without ever going back to revise it, to tighten it up, to remove all the superfluities (not to mention all the typos). The constant recaps of things that had happened, sometimes just a few sentences or a few pages earlier, and the constant need to mention every single person by name (and the cello) and all their tiny movements, drove me crazy. Could we not just be told that 'everyone went into the house' without having to be told who unlocked the door and who went in first, and who came second, and who entered third, etc.? The whole book just felt so long-winded and tediously repetitive. The announcement of Josh's demise was the 'best' part of the book, in terms of being the most moving moment in the whole book - but it was just a moment, and then it was straight back into the mundane and tedious manner of storytelling. Adam being raped should have been a massive thing and yet it was treated like it was no big deal.
There were some references to the Bible's teaching on homosexuality which were completely false so I'm not sure whether McDonald was simply misinformed or if he deliberately misrepresented its teachings in order to try to make Christian beliefs and homosexual activity seem compatible with each other. It was very weird to read such blatant falsehoods and I can't see who would benefit by being mis-led into believing such erroneous statements were true.
My advice would be to just read the first book in the series (Adam) and then stop while the going is good because it's all downhill from then on. It would be better to end the first book and allow your imagination to concoct a happy ending for Adam and Sylvain, because the 'reality' of how the actually novels take the story forward is disappointing to say the least, though there are obviously a lot of (to me, incomprehensible) 5-star ratings which put me in a minority.
September 30, 2019
I refer here to the audiobook adaptations.
Like the preceding novels in the series, "Adam's Star" does not fail to please as it continues the narrative of Adam's life. "Adam's Star" is somewhat of an emotional roller-coaster, lots of highs and very low and sad scenes, that, sometimes, come quite unexpectedly. There are a plethora of characters in this novel, with some cameo appearances from other novels or short stories which I have not yet read. Whilst the novel can be read standalone, I found that I had to backtrack a few pages just to understand their context and relationship with the main protagonists.
This novel like the others is tenderly written I thought, with the characters and the action mainly based in France. I’ve lived in France and whilst I’m not familiar with the Plateau Langres (first setting in "Adam"), I am somewhat familiar with the Gironde/Dordogne region and of course Paris, so it was a thrill to reengage not just with characters but with the settings which are described in knowledgeable detail.
There is some French language in the writing (all novels in the series) but it does not detract from the flow of the story-telling with the author broadly providing the translation in the action or narrative.
"Adam's Star" is narrated by the author as are the preceding books. The narration carries both culture and tenderness in harmony with the writing, fleshing out the personality and characteristics of each character perfectly.
Like the preceding novels in the series, "Adam's Star" does not fail to please as it continues the narrative of Adam's life. "Adam's Star" is somewhat of an emotional roller-coaster, lots of highs and very low and sad scenes, that, sometimes, come quite unexpectedly. There are a plethora of characters in this novel, with some cameo appearances from other novels or short stories which I have not yet read. Whilst the novel can be read standalone, I found that I had to backtrack a few pages just to understand their context and relationship with the main protagonists.
This novel like the others is tenderly written I thought, with the characters and the action mainly based in France. I’ve lived in France and whilst I’m not familiar with the Plateau Langres (first setting in "Adam"), I am somewhat familiar with the Gironde/Dordogne region and of course Paris, so it was a thrill to reengage not just with characters but with the settings which are described in knowledgeable detail.
There is some French language in the writing (all novels in the series) but it does not detract from the flow of the story-telling with the author broadly providing the translation in the action or narrative.
"Adam's Star" is narrated by the author as are the preceding books. The narration carries both culture and tenderness in harmony with the writing, fleshing out the personality and characteristics of each character perfectly.
June 2, 2019
This the last of the Adam trilogy and I for one am sorry. I want it to go on and on, there seem to be so many fascinating characters lurking in the wings, Gary and Sean for example, but seemingly it is not to be. But this is a typically brilliant work from a skilled and perceptive author. All Anthony McDonald's books are worth reading and re-reading - I plead guilty here! He weaves his tales and holds you breathless throughout wondering how this or that sequence will end, how he'll extricate his characters from their latest dilemma and will they eventually end up where they ought or need to be, that is, in bed together! I was devastated by the ghastly review mid-story, but will not be a spoiler to those who have yet to read this wonderful tale. Anthony's eye for character, his lyrical prose, his wonderful descriptions of the French countrysides and not least his gastronomic delights are to be treasured. Dear Anthony, give more in this genre at which you are so accomplished and perhaps see whether some of your earlier characters in the trilogy might just merit a book of their own, you've done it with Spain and indeed some of the personages from the earlier French novels do pop here to great effect. I can't recommend it too highly - go out and buy it, now!
April 15, 2020
I gave this book 5 stars! It was a fantastic read, one of the most mature and honest gay books I've ever read. The emotions of the characters are carefully and realisticly portrayed, the characters themselves, finely drawn and their age and maturity properly represented, as were their national characteristics.
I would recommend this book to all men, straight or gay, and to the families of gay lads.
I would recommend this book to all men, straight or gay, and to the families of gay lads.
January 20, 2021
A wonderfully woven (set of) tales
The quality of the author’s writing is wonderful. And the intersecting plots are delicious. Although sometimes the are sad - or bittersweet. It always so enjoyable!
The quality of the author’s writing is wonderful. And the intersecting plots are delicious. Although sometimes the are sad - or bittersweet. It always so enjoyable!
October 6, 2019
Great ending for trilogy
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews