ELIJAH RISING, ISBN 9781935725084, Paperback, 178 pages, by Lyn Lejeune is a publication of the new LGBT* publisher, inGroup Press.
The narrative begins with Michael again seeing Little Washington, aka. Elijah Broom, a small black boy he had thought he had lost, on the streets of New York. Washington is a desperately poor boy from the south with a dying mother and a young sister forced to the streets to earn enough for basic survival. Michael is the son of a business tycoon father, and a socially prominent, wealthy in- her- own -right, mother. He is overpowered by the father and indulged, but ignored by the mother who is a crusading suffragette. He has graduated from Princeton, is rejected for service in the war that has just begun, and leaves home to move to Greenwich Village "to attempt to discover the meaning of life". He and Washington are drawn to a revival tent meeting by Billy Sunday, a most prominent evangelist of the era and Washington begins to learn the art of being a revivalist preacher. The story continues with Michael eventually joining forces with the developing revivalist minister Elijah and booking tent meetings throughout the western states and eventually, with a partner, in Hollywood. Through it all, there is the specter of underlying, unrequited homosexuality.
As one who lived through much of the latter part of this turbulent era, the tale is a well done representation of the time and of the desperate economic situation encountered by many whites as well as blacks. And perhaps this is the reason, at least in part, for the rambling, confused presentation of the story that, unfortunately for this reader, greatly interfered with enjoyment of the story. Reviewed by John H. Manhold, author of award winning fiction./non-fiction.
*Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender