The challenges of LGBT youth continue to garner national coverage from syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” campaign to the National Youth Advocacy Coalition’s work to end discrimination against LGBT youth. Author Kevin Backer is also doing his part. In his debut novel “The Preacher’s Son: A Southern Coming-out Story
Like most young men, Paul Banks grew up playing sports and struggling to understand the feelings rushing through his teenage body. After his mother and sister die suddenly in a car accident, Paul’s life changes forever. Neither Paul nor his father seem able to cope with the memories that live in the house they all shared; so, Paul and his father decide to move to Texas to begin their lives anew.
Paul’s father, a pastor, finds a new church home, and Paul makes a fresh start as a high school senior. He meets Jeremy Groll, the son of one of the deacon’s at his father’s new church. A spark soon ignites between the two young men. The two keep their growing affection a secret from the outside world, but when Paul’s father discovers the relationship, Paul must endure prejudice from not only his schoolmates, but also from those closest to him.
“The story was one that I couldn’t get out of my mind,” says Backer. “The book tells a love story, but so much more. It tells of a father and son relationship and how both come to grips with Paul’s sexual orientation.”
Available at Amazon.co.uk
About the Author
Kevin L. Backer is gay and lives in north Texas with his lifelong partner and their pets. He is also author of his second novel, “No Son of Mine.”
