Safe As Houses by Alex Jeffers

Title: Safe As Houses
Author: Alex Jeffers
Publisher: Lethe Press
Length: Novel / 320 pages
Buy the book: Publisher, Amazon

Blurb:

When Allen Pasztory discovered he was likely to die before his time, he realized that what he could pass down to the people he loved was stories. Stories of and for his families – the family he was born to and the family he stumbled upon and fiercely embraced.

The hearing child of parents raised in the inhumane surroundings of a state school for the deaf, all along Allen knew he and his family were different. His sister tried her best to become ordinary, as if it were possible, but Allen knew better. He would be ready to offer sanctuary when an ordinary family cast out his nephew Kit.

Allen fell for freelance artist Jeremy’s talent and looks, but it was Jeremy’s unanticipated bravery that supported them through the years while they nurtured their new family. Despite hostility from without and threat from within, they created a secure and loving home for Jeremy’s precocious son Toby and, later, Allen’s nephew.

But safety can’t be guaranteed. Ill, Allen must tell himself stories to survive, stories that may explain his life to the boys he’s raised, for “your life is never only your own story, and what you don’t know for sure you must invent, using all the clues you can gather.”

Review:

Safe as Houses was originally published in 1995 but is now rereleased through Lethe Press. I’ve heard of this book mentioned here and there but never picked up the title until I read Alan Chin’s rave review of the released title. So I was surprised that I struggled to get through the beginning and wanted to give up many times, likely would have walked away if the book wasn’t for review. Yet I found myself totally absorbed and immersed in the second half of the book. If I hadn’t continued, I would have missed a moving, emotional story that by turns surprises and delights.  Safe as Houses is not always an easy book to read with dense, wandering prose and a tendency to go off on tangents with a choppy time line but once the narrative gets into the main character’s current life, the story becomes very engaging. Definitely worth reading, if not always easy.

The book begins with a lengthy introduction to the main character, Allen Pasztory. The beginning is told from his parents’ point of view about their growing up in an orphanage and the early obstacles and problems. This is an interesting look at the topic and goes into great depth and imagination about the lives these two would have led and the importance of hands for talking. Unfortunately this section also tends to be even wordier than other parts, if that’s possible, and thus didn’t capture my interest fully. In some ways it did, as the imagery evoked is beautiful and ethereal with a fascinating concept and look into a very different world. However the entire section felt disconnected from the main part of the book, which deals with Allen and his life with his lover and child. This lengthy background into Allen’s parents felt superfluous as the parents almost entirely disappear in the later part of the novel. In fact I almost wished I’d skipped the beginning background with the slow pace, choppy timeline, and incredibly dense language. Getting through this section left me sadly uninterested in continuing with the novel, but once I got to Allen’s present day life, the story becomes engaging once again.

Here the story introduces Jeremy Kent and his son Toby. Allen becomes involved with Jeremy and the remainder of the novel is Allen’s narration about their life together, past memories, difficulties and joys of a life together. The story tends to jump forward and back in time, telling past memories alongside current actions. This reminded me of an older man telling stories about his life and with all the prejudice that comes from a biased narrator as well. Allen’s life is not always easy as he’s dealing with career, relationships, parenthood, and eventually AIDS. This isn’t a novel about any one aspect in particular, but more so a look at the full life of a complicated man. His relationship with Jeremy is central and important, but just as much as his relationship with Toby and eventually Allen’s nephew Kit.

The writing for the entire novel is lyrical, gentle, and tends to wander. The prose is dense and wordy, offering sidetracks within sentences and thoughts. This is slightly indulgent as a myriad of colors, smells, random thoughts and sounds are all included almost without censoring. This helps give the story a very languid pace, immersing the reader into Allen’s rich life. At the same time some of this leaping in time and place can be disjointed. It’s not confusing but doesn’t follow a linear, straight path and some of the wealth of detail seems unnecessary. There are details about almost everything which give beautiful imagery but make the story not an easy or fast read. I found reading it over several days helped allow me to enjoy the entire experience more than rushing through in one sitting. This also helps as the pace is somewhat choppy and not especially even.

The story is mostly told from Allen’s third person point of view but he’s also biased. Jeremy, Toby, and Kit are all too good to be true but that’s how Allen sees them. He remembers the infidelity or fights or disagreements, the minor annoyances that flair into hurt, but he also deeply loves Jeremy and is totally committed to the man. Just as Allen can’t imagine life without Jeremy, he is even more dedicated to Toby. His relationship to Toby is a cornerstone of his life and one he couldn’t do without. There’s a scene where Jeremy remarks that he thinks Allen only stays with him because of Toby and this is certainly true to an extent. It doesn’t take away from his romantic relationship to Jeremy but that parent-son bond is incredibly important and strong between Allen and Toby.  This complex and somewhat idyllic, family shows real strength alongside flaws and weaknesses.

Safe as Houses is a difficult book to rate for me as I struggled to get through the overly loquacious beginning but was soon absorbed in the second half. The later half of the book is one I would definitely read again but I’d skip the beginning portion entirely. While interesting, this feels better suited in another book so considering that the rating is perhaps not reflective of the best aspects of the story. Either way, I’d recommend this as a fascinating, unique, and poignant look at the life and relationships of a great character.