Furnace Creek

by Joseph Allen Boone

Part coming-of-age story and part novel of erotic discovery, part queer take on Southern Gothic and part detection-mystery thriller: FURNACE CREEK teases us with the question of what Charles Dickens' Pip might have been like had he grown up in the American South of the 1960s and 1970s and faced the explosive social issues--racial injustice, a war abroad, women's and gay rights, class struggle--that galvanized the world in those decades.

Like Dickens's Pip, Newt Seward yearns to escape his small-town upbringing in the mountains of Virginia. A guilty encounter with an escaped felon, a summer spent working for an eccentric old bachelor with a mysterious past, conflicted erotic feelings for his employer's worldly visiting niece and nephew--these events set the stage for a surprising announcement that launches the youth on a journey of sexual and moral discovery, one that takes him to prep school in New England, bohemian digs in Rome, and discovery in Paris--all before he returns home to life's many expectations and disappointments.

This inventive response to Great Expectations quickly leaps beyond the frame of Dickens' masterpiece to become a gripping contemporary meditation on the perils of desire, ambition, love, loss, and family.

Genres: Fiction, Gay

485 pages, Hardcover

Published July 4, 2021

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joseph Allen Boone, in Furnace Creek explores the mid-century American South and queerness in its many instantiations all while paying homage to Charles Dickens.

Newt finds himself caught in the trappings of the rural South when he meets an ex-convict - and former maid - who's interactions with Newt will change his life. Meanwhile, Newt also finds himself caught up in the gaudy trappings of a reclusive, queer, wealthy man (Mr. Julian) and his nephew and niece, also Newt's age. When a mysterious benefactor comes out of the wood work to support Newt in escaping to the world of private education and wealth in New England, Newt's world is changed. When he later finds himself in Europe, a mystery unfolds and his benefactor - and their mystery - is unwound.

In many ways Furnace Creek is just a recreation of Great Expectations, and, as someone who literally has Miss Havisham tattooed on my arm, I approached this book both with excitement and trepidation. The singular issue with this book is that Boone recreates Pip's world from Great Expectations but his characters lack much of the depth and nuance apparent in Dickens' telling. Mr. Julian - the Miss Havisham of Boone's book - is a wealthy character but Boone failed to establish the level of tragedy that a Havisham-adjacent character is meant to exude. Add to this a book that had way too much going on (the final 25% of the book was a constant jumping forward in time that made little sense) and you have a book that could have been great but was instead just meh.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

I will start off by saying this could easily have been a 5 star read for me. I loved the general layout of the story, I loved the writing style. Both places and characters were described in an extremely vivid way and I thoroughly enjoyed the detective story sprinkled in there as well. The atmosphere evoked, especially in the case of the Brewster house, and later the streets of Rome, was marvelous.

That being said, there were a few things that ruined the book for me beyond repair:

Let's start with the graphic sexual abuse - I am particularly referring to that of Mary Jo as a child. I understand why it had to be mentioned, but what's up with the explicitness? I think any reasonable adult would've already been shocked enough by a less vivid description, especially keeping in mind that this is a minor.

In general, the women in this book suffer. And suffer. And suffer. But, and I want you to read this with as much sarcasm as possible, it's 'all good' because it 'makes them stronger' in the end, which is both mentioned in the case of Newt's mother (who is assaulted and later victim blamed) as well as Mary Jo (who cannot catch a break with all the trauma being imposed on her).

Social criticism or not, it was too much in too quick a succession for me, making it feel sensationalist and borderline ridiculous, this reaching its height when after a passionate love confession Marky dies. Right after Julian died. Right before Newt's dad dies. Well, that is, the latter dies in ONE version of the last chapter, which also did not work for me at all and left me entirely confused - especially because the rest of the book was so straightforward.

I really wanted to enjoy this. Parts of it I absolutely devoured. But in the end, given what I have mentioned above, it turned too sour for me to leave a good impression.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think this is an easy book to rate, especially since I have not read Great Expectations. It’s dense and literary, well thought out, often beautiful prose, and it plays with and references conventions of the genre and the classic it is in conversation with. It also made me cry. 4.5 stars.

[Andrew Chidzey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first novel I have read by this author - it is a modern take on Dickens' Great Expectations and I found it engaging and enjoyable. The storyline follows the central character, Newt, as he grows and develops through the 60s and 70s then culminates with a period of reminiscence when he return to his home town of Furnace Creek in later life. I look forward to reading more by this author in due course.

[Kyle C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Furnace Creek is a modern queering of Great Expectations. Written in a stuffy style of Victorian prose, populated with baroque, eccentric, Dickensian characters, the novel tells the story of a precocious boy named Newt Seward growing up in rural Virginia. After he helps a black woman escape town, he becomes employed by a wealthy man, Mr Brewster, and helps to rearrange his library. As he comes closer to Mr Brewster and learns aristocratic manners and culture from him, he becomes enamoured with Mr Brewster's visiting niece and nephew. When he turns sixteen, a lawyer comes to inform him that an anonymous donor will fund his education at a New England boarding school, and eventually, Harvard. Obviously, just as Pip thought Ms Havisham was his mysterious benefactor, Newt thinks the lonely Mr Brewster is his secret patron. And like Pip, his pampered life of sudden financial ease slowly leads him into disreputable spending and dissolute debt. It is a true Dickensian tale of precipitous fortunes, implausible coincidences and operatic melodrama. But whereas Dickens explores the complexities of class in Victorian England, the dainty etiquette of old-money snobs and their rivalry with gauche parvenus, this novel takes a modern twist exploring intersections with race and queerness in the American South.

On the whole, I didn't like it. It too closely resembled Great Expectations, so I never really felt the same suspense and mystery as the plot unfolded. The plot-twists were always carefully set up in advance. The metatextual hinting was also heavy ("I'd been reading too many Victorian novels" occurs several times throughout) and some allusions were too obvious and unnecessary ("it's a truth well acknowledged that New Englanders are more proudly reserved than the garrulous Virginians"). Some of the vocabulary was repetitive (I started to wince every time I saw "savoir-faire") and some of the representation of African American Vernacular English seemed inaccurate (invariant "be" is used specifically for habitual aspect. When the black fugitive woman asks, "You be meanin' what I think, Newt?" I think it would be more accurate to say "you meaning what I think?"—it didn't sound to me like authentic black American diction but a kind of pantomime version). The prose is florid but after a while it felt stilted. I also didn't like the end which verbatim repeated entire pages.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author drew me in from the first page of the book and I read it compulsively to the end. As a Dickens fan, I loved the Great Expectations premise. Like the Dickens classic, we follow the fortunes of a youthful protagonist who becomes the unwitting beneficiary of a convict's largesse. We watch him escape his small Virginia town and head off first to prep school in the North, then Harvard, and finally Europe.

The Miss Havisham is the complex Mr. Julian who gives Newt Seward his first taste of life beyond the small town. Through him, he meets Mr. Julian's two wards, Mary Jo and Marky. Mary Jo is his Estella.

The novel is successful largely because of its characters, including a strong secondary cast consisting of Newt's parents, his friend Miranda, Zithra, the loyal and discreet lawyer, Tom Allbright, and Mr. Julian's attendant G.G. and G.G.'s son, Sam. They are all flawed and complex and we empathize with all of them. Nicely drawn. I cared alot about these characters and remained invested in their choices and their fates. The author propels them through a complicated and fast-moving plot that kept the pages turning.

The book does have a few issues: the writing style--maybe in an effort to mimic Dickens-- comes across as stilted at times. Newt's bisexuality(?) is delayed so long in the book that it seems kind of tacked on. The author may have been hindered by his faithfulness to Pip's love of Estella. It would been better to have Newt and Sam explore their feelings early on and/or have Marky be the sole focus of Newt's unrequited affection. The back story of Enzio and Julian seems a bit more convoluted than necessary. Most confusing of all is the "double ending." I'm not sure what purpose that served--the second one was so much more satisfactory--although there was no need for the extended scene with Hank and Bruno, the only real villains of the piece.

So it's not a perfect book (if one even exists) but I thoroughly enjoyed the pace, the plot and most of all the characters--you want the best for them and follow their choices and stories with interest and empathy.

[Christy-JC Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was impressive! I read it for my bookclub, and we deliberately read _Great Expectations_ first. The symmetry is obvious, and I enjoyed this so much more because of that. Otherwise, I can imagine that I might have given up or skimmed some of it. Boone is a master with prose, descriptions, twists & turns, satisfying conclusions, and so. much. detail. Much like Dickens, of course. I am glad that I stuck with this long and sometimes challenging book. I won't soon forget it. I was especially grateful with the last two chapters, which are a nod to Dickens.
The blurbs focus a lot on this book as a gay coming of age story in the 1970s American South. It is that, but I would say that is a bit of a narrow description of Newt's evolution. It is a lot more than that. I will be encouraging my serious reading friends to jump in.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had HIGH expectations for this book. And was duly rewarded. :)

I don't recall reading the book that this is based on, Great Expectations. I may have read it once in my youth but forget. So I did a quick Google search to understand the similarities before reading Furnace Creek which gave me an appreciation to the creativity the author did drawing modern parallels to the Victorian one.

The ending which wraps up the mystery of Enzio was the most intriguing part to me. It felt like a cross between a crime thriller meets YA romance. Very intriguing blending of genres.

I agree with one of the reviewers who said it was strange that there seem to be 2 versions of the last chapter. Confusing. I preferred the latter one.

[A. Harnish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few incomplete thoughts: the first third or so is electric. The remainder, though always sumptuously written, relies heavily on summary and a rather esoteric mystery that felt adjacent to the energy of the bildungsroman.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly this was pretty good and quite a unique story. some things i wished were developed more but considering this book is so long i don’t know how much more would have fit.

[Wisconsin Alumni]

Joseph Allen Boone MA'76, PhD'82
Author

[Mary Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book- so good I want to read it again.

[travis spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun book i enjoyed reading, but the editor needs to be shot

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing style is evocative and smart. The story hangs on the GREAT EXPECTATIONS framework but is enough of its own thing to not feel like a mere update. It's solid but strangely on super compelling-easy to put down. Also, strangely, there seem to be 2 versions of the last chapter. Confusing.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh and cry and contemplate my own life. It helps if you have read Great Expectations. It is a quite unexpected adaptation of a Dickens classic. I was sad to learn it's the only novel he has written. What a tour de force this book is.