Review: Junction X by Erastes

Junction X is not a romance rather it's a drama centred around a gay romance, or perhaps even an obsession.  It's a perfectly nuanced morality tale with a central character who tied me up in knots and made me experience such a wealth of emotion that it will be difficult to put down in words all my feelings for him.

The story is taken from the first person point of view of Ed, who is a British middle class man in his thirties, and set in the early 1960s.  He has a nice home; a good job; a reasonably good, if a little dull, relationship with his attractive wife and children; and a sort of 'friends with benefits' arrangement with his good friend and former neighbour, Phil.  All that changes when Ed falls in love with the teenage son of his new neighbours and he and Alex begin an illicit affair.

I read the first half of this book pretty quickly, caught up in the character of Ed, who I really liked.  His naivety was strangely endearing and I sympathised with the prickly relationship he has with his wife (they reminded me a little of Jerry and Margot from The Good Life), and the even more confusing relationship he has with Phil.  It seemed quite cut and dried to me that Phil was taking advantage of Ed, that he was his friend only because of what Ed could do for him, or to him.  One of the things I most admired about this story was the way that Phil turned out to be something rather unexpected in his friendship with Ed, and that all my preconceptions about him proved to be wrong, or misguided anyway.  Ed bumbles along in this first part, allowing life to happen to him, cocooned in his middle class world which dampens all his emotions.  He's a good man whose respectability is important to him but who isn't ambitious or forward thinking.  A lot of time is spent during this first part in allowing the reader to get a good feel for Ed and his life as it stands.  It wasn't dull by any means but I was a little puzzled at first as to when the romance aspect would begin.  Later though, I realised why it was so important to see Ed and his comfortable life in this way.  It lays down the foundations for the second half of the book, where circumstances and Ed's actions rocks his careful world and things change for him dramatically.

The romance between Ed and Alex left me feeling uncomfortable, and I think was a deliberate part of the book.  We're not meant to wholly happy with the situation. On one hand I could understand the passions of both men (although in the 1960's, 18 year old Alex was still classed as a child), and yet there was always a constant niggle that Ed held all the cards. He obviously loves Alex, and the passages where Ed tries to explain his feelings for Alex were convincing and quite tender in their description.  However, a few times suddenly I found myself trying to see things from Alex's point of view, the hero worship; the fierce love of a teenager; and the excitement of a secret affair mingled with the difficulties of hiding his love and the jealousy of being 'the other man'.  There's no doubt in my mind that Ed should have been more responsible, more perceptive.  He wasn't though, and that's ultimately where the tragedy lies in this story.

This second half of the book was a little difficult for me.  Not because it was badly written, if anything Erastes' lyrical prose and stark characterisation remained compelling, but rather because I knew where the story was heading. I read it in chunks of about 30 pages at a time, before putting the book down as I mulled over what was happening and my changing feelings towards Ed.  His naivety, which was so endearing earlier in the book now became a source of frustration for me, as did his inability to think through his actions or his words before he speaks.  True to character, Ed holds out on his feelings until he is forced to face them, and then his weakness allows things to get out of control.  His decline from a morally upright person into a selfish, lying cheat is so gradual that I was almost at the end of the book before I realised how he'd changed.  As a study in how much infidelity rips your life to shreds this was extremely well done.  The fall out, when it happens, was swift, over in a matter of a few pages leaving me strangely numb. Only after an hour or so after I finished reading the book did the emotions come as I mentally raged at Ed for his foolishness, his inability to understand the feelings of others and his sheer stupidity in the way he handled things.  Most of all I felt sorrow for what had happened, for the lives ruined.  There aren't many authors who can leave me so worked up about a character or a situation and it's proof of how intense and powerful the writing is in this book that I was so emotionally connected to a work of fiction.

Junction X isn't an easy read. It's not light and fluffy. There are no clear cut characters or situations - rather the complexity of the characterisation was breathtaking. Instead it's a study of how love can lead to ruin; how taking what you want may not always be the best course; how the perfect life can be anything but.  It's a beautifully written and vivid portrayal of a man's downfall. It may not have brought me to tears at the end, but it's a book which will stay with me for a very long time.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.