I must tell you about this book I just finished. It’s called Square Affair by Timothy J. Holt, and it’s probably one of the few legitimate pieces of LGBTQIA+ Literature I have read. But not for all those reasons you may think. The novel starts with a significant past event, i.e., our main characters have already been caught in a restroom by the town sheriff having public sex. The story itself takes place in a small town a few miles away from Chicago named Dewers. Holt didn’t write the novel to change the cultural landscape; he means to explore a particular topic. This perspective tied two hotbed topics into one–affairs and homosexuality in closed communities. Coming to the novel with my only experience of homosexual affairs being limited to the Netflix show Grace and Frankie, I was expecting some of the characters to find a problem with homosexuality more so than with the affairs, but I was wrong. Most of the main characters had issues with the affair including the rumormonger character (I mean this in a good way), Clara May. Clara expresses light disapproval with the gang’s escapades, but she is there for some of the group members when they needed her.

The novel’s pacing was exceptional. I like how Holt used Clara as an introduction to the character that the next chapter was dedicated to. This narrative helped speed up the denouement of the novel towards its end. My favorite character would, of course, be Clara May–she’s such a great character, fitting to the phrase “small town, big heart.”

I have two favorite moments when it comes to this novel. The first is a part where Mary, one of the gang member’s scorned wives (each husband is a part of the “square affair five” gang), goes to the beauty salon to get her hair done and reveals information about her marriage. But then her husband’s mother comes in, and they have a public spat. Their ego’s rub against each other because they both have queen bee personalities. The next part is a more tender moment between Bob (Mary’s husband) and Gary; it’s very heartfelt as the chapter begins with Gary talking about how sad he is and ends with Bob and Gary embracing each other after Gary finds some resolve and decides that his only focus should be “being there” for Bob.

Something I disliked about the novel was how its defining moment had already happened, e.g., the “Square Affair.” It felt like the book was missing an actual climax, something that would have led me to devour those pages trying to find out what happens. But again, Holt does make up for this by using pacing and the little secrets he bestowed upon some of the town’s residents. Overall, I would give this book a solid 3 and a half stars out of 5.