Tom Smith is a high school history teacher in the small, west Texas town of Gunning. He's so deeply in the closet that, even though he's taught there for 15 years, no one in Gunning knows he is gay. His reasons are two fold. First, he believes that his career would be ruined, and second, he was the victim of a hate crime many years ago that still affects him deeply. So when the music teacher asks Tom to help the kids put on the musical
Rent, he's terrified that not only will this stir up major trouble for the school and the students, he's also afraid that the homosexuality in it will lead to someone discovering that he is gay.
This was a wonderful and very moving story of a man trying to find the courage to believe that he is worthy of love and acceptance for who he really is. The hate crime wounded Tom both physically and emotionally, and the reader takes his journey with him as he tries to work through his fears and doubts to be with someone special. The author does a great job of using
Rent as a way for Tom to come to terms with what he wants in life, which is what all of us want - to be loved and accepted for who we are. Highly recommended but only for open-minded adults. 350 pages (Kindle edition).
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