Book: Idlewild
Publisher: Interlude Press
Publication date: December 1, 2016
Length: 250 pages
Cover artist: CB Messer
Reviewed by Erin
Synopsis
Asher Schenck and his husband John opened
their downtown gastro pub in the midst of Detroit’s revival. Now, five years
after John’s sudden death, Asher is determined to pull off a revival of his
own. In a last ditch attempt to bring Idlewild back to life, he fires everyone
and hires a new staff. Among them is Tyler Heyward, a recent college graduate
in need of funds to pay for med school. Tyler is a cheery balm on Asher’s soul,
and their relationship quickly shifts from business to friendship. When they
fall for each other, it is not the differences of race or class that challenge
their love, but the ghosts and expectations of their respective pasts. Will
they remain stuck, or move toward a life neither of them has allowed himself to
dream about?
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Excerpt
Today when Asher
greets him, he seems more present. Tyler knew this place was in dire straits,
but if he needed confirmation, the harried expression on Asher’s face when
they first met was it.
Although his
clothes hint that he’s tried to put himself together, his hair is a mess. It’s
longish, with a hint of curls and is the kind of tousled only some men can pull
off. Though deep brown, Tyler can see some gray at the temples. Asher has dark
eyes and sports the shadow of a beard. Despite the pallor of his skin that
indicates he hasn’t gotten sun in a long time and his slightly sloppy
appearance, Tyler can’t help but notice how handsome he is. He’s taller than
Tyler by a few inches—most men are. He has no idea how old Asher is—it would
hardly be polite to ask—but he thinks maybe in his thirties. That’s hardly old,
but it’s older than he; that’s never been an attraction. But, it’s working
right now. Tyler swallows and smiles.
“So,” Asher starts. He sits at the same table. It’s just as
covered in paperwork. “What are your thoughts about working here?”
“Are…” Tyler eyes him. “Are you hiring me?”
“I am strongly considering it.” Asher doesn’t smile but his eyes
are friendly.
“It would be great to work here,” Tyler says. “Really. This
building has a vibe.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Something here feels right.” He wonders if he’s
making a fool of himself. Tyler sometimes can sense the energy of a person or
place. It’s nothing he seeks—but some people and places he’s encountered just
feel right.
Empty, Idlewild brims with potential.
It’s a building with great bones, long but narrow, with high groin-vaulted
ceilings and a bar that curves down the length of the front-of-house floor.
Cream-colored wainscoting lines the bottom of the walls—he sees it running up
the stairs to the second floor—and the walls are a rich deep red that’s
brightened and warmed by an eclectic assortment of antique lighting fixtures.
Wide wooden steps with carved spindles lead to the second floor seating area.
The dark wood and walls are offset by light through the large glass window.
“Well, I hope so.” Asher looks around, then shrugs. “Or that I can
make something of it.”
“Just you?” Tyler asks. “That sounds exhausting.”
Asher tilts his
head with a tiny smile quirking his lips.
“Well, if you wanna take a chance on me, which I recommend, I want
to help you with that.” Tyler smiles as warmly as he can and is gratified when
Asher’s eyes catch his. They share a second of eye contact that leaves Tyler
short of breath. He looks away quickly.
Review
As
a reader, there's nothing better than picking up a book by an author
who has been on your wish list (for longer than they should have been!)
and having that book be everything you wanted. Jude Sierra's, Idlewild,
was all that I expected and more. Like most Interlude Press books, the
cover grabbed my attention as soon as I saw it then the blurb had me
waiting anxiously for the release. I love books set in a place I've
never been and when the backdrop is also a restaurant, well, I knew I
was in for something special. And boy, I sure got it with this gorgeous,
romantic, and gentle book.
Asher
Schenck is floundering ... in life and his business. He's still
grieving over the death of his partner and husband five years ago and
their restaurant, Idlewild, is his last tangible connection the man he
loved so passionately. Too bad that passion has withered with his
suffocating grief and Idlewild is on the brink of failure. As a last
ditch effort, Asher fires his entire staff and starts over from scratch.
Enter the charming and enigmatic Tyler Heyward. He's young and
beautiful and full of joy and light and he's exactly what Asher needs in
order to move forward out of the darkness he's found himself during the
past five years. With Tyler's effervescent personality, Asher begins to
fall in love with his restaurant again, as well as his city ... and of
course with Tyler himself. Watching these two move from boss/employee to
best friends to lovers was truly a beautiful thing. Sierra's prose is
gorgeous and full of emotion that is so palpable it jumps off the page.
There's not a lot of heat going on in Idlewild, instead it's this slowly
building thing that is tangible, so much so you can feel the threads
connecting these two on a soul deep level. There's sex, and it's hot--
Asher seriously knows his way around in the bedroom--but it's MORE than
that. It's about touch and intimacy and connection. Despite the ten year
age difference between the much worldlier and experienced Asher and the
somewhat naive Tyler, these two men fit together and just work. Of
course their relationship is not without it's issues, and both Asher and
Tyler have plenty they need to work out for themselves before they can
truly commit to one another but Jude Sierra doesn't let our two heroes
wallow in their angst for too long. Thank goodness!
I
have to say not only is this book about a love affair between two men
who are both broken in their own ways, but it's also about Detroit
itself. The landmarks and the history of the city play such an important
role in Idlewild. The way that both men view their beloved and
beleaguered city was something so very refreshing. Sierra's descriptions
had me feeling like I was right there with them looking at buildings,
smelling food from the food trucks, or seeing people walking through
Downtown. I just really dug this book, y'all. It was quiet and full of
so many feels. Asher broke my heart and then Tyler, man he had so many
layers. There are a few important secondary characters sprinkled
throughout the book, but the main focus of Idlewild is on Asher and
Tyler, and they more than deserved the spotlight. It's unusual for me
not to miss more interaction between characters other than the main
ones, but it just shows how brilliant Jude Sierra's storytelling is that
I didn't even miss that aspect. I devoured each page of Idlewild and
was really quite sad to get to the end. If that's not the mark of a good
book, I don't know what is!? Don't miss this one guys, you definitely
need this book in your life.
Interview
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Jude
Sierra author of Idlewild
Hi Jude, thank you for agreeing to this
interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
Thank you for
having me!
1)
When
did you write your first story/book? How old were you?
I wrote my first “novel”
in 2007 for NaNoWriMo…so I would have been 25. Well *barely*, since my birthday
is December 1st. I worked on that book off an on for years…and it’s
terrible! Oh my gosh it’s so bad. Purple prose right and left…and when it’s not
purple it’s about 40% cliché and 67% awkward. I mean it was doomed from the
start, just based on the concept. It’s about a woman whose boyfriend leaves her
without warning by leaving her a note. She has mommy and daddy issues. She
secretly wants to be an artist. She runs away to a beach house to heal and ends
up with her best friend….
All that aside though, I’m very proud of that book. I dreamed for years of writing a novel, and never really thought I *would*. That’s the beauty of NaNoWriMo; the motivation to push past that little voice in your head that tells you you can’t. You just don’t have time to doubt yourself when the whole point is to throw caution to the wind and keep moving!
All that aside though, I’m very proud of that book. I dreamed for years of writing a novel, and never really thought I *would*. That’s the beauty of NaNoWriMo; the motivation to push past that little voice in your head that tells you you can’t. You just don’t have time to doubt yourself when the whole point is to throw caution to the wind and keep moving!
2)
Are
you a plotter or pantser?
I am historically a pantser. I mean, I’ve pantsed to
the point I was probably just running around nude! Idlewild, I believe, was the start of a tide kind of turning for
me. With Idlewild, I made a decision
to try to write alternating points of view for chapters, rather than in my
random, willy-nilly kind of way. It was a huge challenge though, because I am
used to writing out of order and at a rapid pace (it was my NaNo novel in
2015). Trying to reorganize and stitch together and make sustained chapter
points of view was a BEAR. So for the first time, this year, I’ve decided to
try NOT to pants. I plotted for a long time. I actually stayed on track for 25k
words on my new project…
In
the end though, ya know. Pantsers gonna pants.
3)
What
do you think makes your book stand out from the crowd?
I
think that there are a few elements in this book that make it unique. First,
Detroit. I mean, you’ll see the city in books, but in this book, I treated
Detroit as a character – one I love as much as my others. A complex, nuanced,
frustrating and beautiful character.
I
think that Tyler and Asher, individually and separately are unique. One of my
favorite lines of the book -- “Tyler knows of the middleness of his body” captures a lot of him – his
mixed race and genderqueer identities – even though he worries about other’s
not appreciating the latter, he really knows it about himself. In many ways,
Tyler really inhabits that middleness in his personality too. He is very
charismatic and changeable; he navigates the world in a fluid way that has a
lot to do with him wanting to please people; this creates an interesting
journey for him.
Asher
foils really interestingly with these two. He’s a widower trying to keep the
business he started with his late husband alive. He’s spent years so focused on
it, telling himself that he’s healed from his husband’s death, that even as the
restaurant is failing, it’s what’s protecting him from facing the outside
world. He’s a man who thinks he has a better handle on his shit than he really
does. As readers, we can see this though. Hopefully people will see and love
his strength too. Despite these things, it takes a strong person to hold on
instead of give up.
4)
How do
you find or make time to write?
The age old question! I get asked this a lot
actually; between kids and commuting to my graduate school program, working,
and studying…I’m not even sure sometimes. I do know that often if I really want
to get it done, it involves getting up at 5 am. I’d love to stay up and write
at night, or even write after the kids go to bed, but my brain is useless after
8pm.
5)
What
do you like to read in your free time?
I will read almost anything! It really
depends on where my head is at; and I go through phases. When I have time to
linger and am not super stressed, I end up in literature phases based on
particular research tangents. I went through a phase where I was obsessed with
reading English and American literature from about the 1880s through the 1920s.
I liked looking at the ways in which the fundamental and huge impact World War
I is reflected in the literature over that period of time. Stick Edith Wharton
and Virginia Woolf side by side and you get some fascinating stuff.
When
I’m not being a giant dork, I’m a romance kind of girl. I love happy endings,
I’m all about the sexy, I love how easy it is to slip into these fictional
worlds. I am way obsessed with sports romance right now; obsessed but picky!
About the author
Jude
Sierra first began writing poetry as a child in her home country of Brazil.
Still a student of the form, she began writing long-form fiction by tackling
her first National Novel Writing Month project in 2007, and in 2011 began
writing in online communities, where her stories have thousands of readers. Her
previous novels include Hush (2015) and What It Takes (2016),
which received a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly.
Connect with the
author at judesierra.com, on Twitter @judesierra and on Facebook at facebook.com/jude.sierra.
Giveaway
Grand Prize $25 IP Gift Card + Multi-format eBook of Hold // Five winners receive Idlewild eBook
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