When high school teacher Tom Smith meets Kevin Bannerman at a gay club, he violates his own rule: one-night stands only. But when the weekend is over, he walks away, reminding himself that he lives a deeply closeted life for painful, compelling reasons. He keeps his secrets, his heart, and the cause of his crippled arm to himself, but almost immediately he bitterly regrets leaving Kevin. Months later, while Tom serves as reluctant assistant director for his school's production of Rent, he fears that the show's same-sex love angle will somehow out him. Protests against the play begin, one of the student actors is harassed, and during a parents' meeting, Tom encounters Kevin again. This time Tom can't fight the attraction between them, and he and Kevin begin a tentative relationship. Within Rent's message of acceptance and support, and as local churches oppose the play, Tom struggles to find the strength to admit one man into his heart.
Admit One
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Standing Ovation for Admit One,
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This review is from: Admit One (Paperback)
In my reading experience, the best of all possible books features the following:
1. Characters real and relatable; 2. A completely engrossing world that the reader does not care to leave; 3. Compelling subplots; 4. Literary elements, like symbolic details and tricky narrative constructions; 5. A story that speaks a "truth" about the world in a way nonfiction does not; 6. A final 100 pages that the reader refuses to put down until done, usually around four in the morning; 7. An experience that lingers with the reader long after completion. Admit One delivered all of these things. I finished this book over a month ago, and I still find myself thinking about and caring for Tom and Kevin, and even secondary characters like George and Robbie, as if they were good friends. No one was a caricature, and I believed this story from beginning to end. Sinclair created a startlingly realistic world that both made me confront the ugliness in us as well as the beauty. This author really knows how to weave a tale! I was biting my nails in the school board scene, longing to shake Tom to his senses on multiple occassions, cheering on the high school kids, and crying, sometimes in pain, sometimes in joy, in more than one scene between Tom and Kevin. We all say it every day, to our family and friends, as part of our daily routine to the point that its almost trivial, and so it takes some extraordinary writing to bring the reader to tears at a phrase as common as "I love you." This is not your everyday gay romance. It's much more. For one, I especially enjoyed how the sex scenes did real work in the development of characters; each one drives the story forward. The author wrote with real care, and she includes many rich, symbolic details. I easily spent two hours discussing this novel in all its depth! As I close this review, I keep finding my words incredibly inadequate in comparison to the way this book made me feel. Through a complex and compelling tale, Admit One wrestles with the big issues--courage, community, fear, acceptance, hate, love--and its ultimate answer left me satisfied in a way few books do. I stayed up until four a.m. finishing it; I bet you will, too.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just...wow.,
By momokaachan "Forever Lost in Wonderland" (Bremerton, WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Admit One (Paperback)
Be sure you have time for the whole book before you start reading. Once you start ... I turned off my phone, I forgot to eat, totally wrapped up in this well-written romance.
Don't expect to jump from one bed scene to another. There's a LOT to this story. The characters are well developed, the environment is believable, and what sexual situations there are promote the story line. This is not a light comedy; it is not a pot-boiler. It is a serious story of a gay man falling in love. Read it. Enjoy it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling and heart gripping story!,
By
This review is from: Admit One (Paperback)
I have always wanted a novel from this writer. And she has delivered one compelling, deeply meaningful and heart gripping story in this intense narration of one man's struggle to break free from a horrifying past that has strangled him for 16 years. Tom Smith is the man. A well respected teacher in a religious and conservative town in Texas, Tom has lived with his tormented past for 16 years. A past which left him shattered, disillusioned, handicapped and emotionally scarred for life. He lived in constant fear of being discovered he is gay in his conservative community hiding behind a facade of calm and pretense. His only sexual release are his weekends trips to Houston for one night stands with unknown men. And this is how he meets Kevin. In contrast Kevin is comfortable with his sexuality, with a failed marriage behind him. He strives for what he wants and nearing 40 years old yearns for a committed relationship. He loves Tom. He recognizes the man beneath the layers of fears wishing to break free and he is not about to abandon Tom.
In the beginning I could not feel much sympathy for Tom. I could not understand his cowardice as this is 2008 we are talking about. Surely there is nothing to keep him from leaving the deeply religious town in Texas and be with Kevin, the man he loves. But as the story progresses I come to feel deeply for this credible character . I understand his fears as the poignancy of his mesmerizing narration grips me. And when his horrifying past is revealed in a powerful confrontation with Kevin I found myself all choked up and have to pause to tell myself this is fiction. Tom and Kevin are just frictional characters! Their developing relationship is complex, underlined with pain and filled with the deep yearnings of two nearly forty year old gay men for the almost impossible dream of a committed relationship. Intertwined into their compelling story is a group of students fighting a conservative community for the right to express themselves in the powerful musical "Rent". Here the writer has done a wonderful joy drawing out the supporting characters of several 17 year old kids. I find myself caring for one boy named Robbie as much as for Tom and Kevin. Their struggle is all too real. There is so much emotions in Admit One. This is one powerfully compelling and stirring story as it is credible and convincing. This is not your usual M/M romance. It is so much more and I wish I could express my review better.
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