Review by Booklist Review
Abby, devoted to caring for her manipulative, widowed mother in Philadelphia and becoming a prim spinster in the process, gets a call from her brother, Thom. An outcast since awkwardly coming out to his parents, Thom has lived incommunicado in the family's erstwhile hometown, Atlanta, and refused to attend his father's funeral. But, learning that he is HIV-positive, he calls home. Under Mom's strict instruction to fetch the prodigal son, Abby throws some high-necked blouses (yep, really!) into a suitcase for a holiday visit. Initially shy, she quickly warms to Thom's friends and embarks on a passionate affair with the one straight man among them. She keeps it secret, even from Thom, though he had been her compatriot and soul companion in a family whose veneer of genteel civility was less than paper thin. Writing as if from a place of stillness in the midst of turmoil, the author of Pagan Babies (1993) examines the roiling complexities beneath one family's placid facade. --Whitney Scott
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A glittery Christmas holiday season in Georgia provides the fitting backdrop for this moving, poignant portrait of a family's reconciliation, imbued with the transformative grace of forgiveness. After four years of silence, Thom Sandler, a gay man in his 30s recently diagnosed as HIV positive, contacts his sister, Abby, in Philadelphia and urges her to visit him in Atlanta, where he now lives and where they both grew up. Abby is sole caregiver to their mother, Lucille, a bitter widower who alienated Thom when she suggested that the disclosure of Thom's homosexuality somehow contributed to his father's death weeks later. Abby quickly warms to her brother's friends, especially young boyfriend Chip and the flashy, effervescent Connie. She makes romantic headway with handsome stranger Philip DeMunn, keeping the affair secret from her brother. Initially reluctant, Abby eventually adjusts to Thom's world and gains a deeper understanding of her brother's complex struggles with gay life, issues with identity and his potentially life-threatening infection. After a somewhat melodramatic group vacation in Key West, Fla., Lucille appears, lending loving support to her son during a minor bout of illness and making peace with him. Episodes from Thom's past break up the narrative, adding depth and insight to Johnson's very appealing protagonist. Johnson writes with the same winning flair and affecting poignancy that propelled his debut novel, Pagan Babies. Here, he effectively harnesses the sweeping notions of family by presenting his own take on the power of blood ties. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In his new novel, the author of Pagan Babies as well as several collections of short stories paints a sensitive though somewhat unsettling picture of life's various love relationships. After learning that he has contracted the AIDS virus, Thom Sandler contacts his sister, Abby, and convinces her to visit him in Atlanta. Though they have been estranged for four years, Abby welcomes the chance to reconcile. They resume their childhood roles as a team united against the demands of their overwrought mother, and Abby comes to know Thom's circle of rather eccentric friends, even entering into a new and mysterious relationship of her own. Sticky Kisses (referring to the heavily lipsticked, perfumed kisses Thom received from his mother as a child) explores familial relationships and friendships with a perceptive view not burdened by sentimentality. Things aren't tidily wrapped up at the endthe reader is left with big questions about Abby's affair and about the tragic behavior of a close friend of Thom'sbut overall the novel is satisfying in its exploration of the characters and especially in its portrayal of Southern social rules. Recommended for all public libraries.Caroline Mann, Univ. of Portland Lib., OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Atlanta-based author Johnson (Pagan Babies, 1993; stories: I Am Dangerous, 1996) returns to familiar themes with a southern family brought together, transformed, and in part destroyed by AIDS. Thom and his sister Abby haven't spoken in four years, not since Thom exiled himself after a family incident at the time of their father's death. Thirtysomething, he now lives in Atlanta, the family's hometown. A successful realtor, Thom has recently lost his boyfriend to AIDS and is sustained by a wide circle of friends. It's a bittersweet existence, brunch and Bloody Marys on the one hand, hospital visits and anti-viral cocktails on the other. Older sister Abby, meanwhile, is a schoolteacher who lives at home with Mom in Philadelphia. Single, getting a bit frumpy and more than a bit bitter, she spends too much of her time taking care of out-to-lunch Mom and is well on her way to redefining Catholic spinsterhood for the 21st century. When Thom gets in touch to tell her he's HIV-positive, Abby takes charge. She flies to Atlanta with the intent of bringing Thom back and brokering a family reconciliation. But like a Henry James heroine on her first trip to Florence, Abby comes alive in Atlanta. After she reestablishes her intimacy with Thom, she finds herself a dark and sinister lover, a new wardrobe, a different hair-do, and several new friends. With Thom's old and Abby's new friends, they create a family of their own, and their collective tales, interrupted by gossip and drinks, laughter and occasional tears, sends the novel flying along. But the inevitable can't be avoided, and, after putting it off for months, Mom comes to visit: a scary combination of southern politeness and northern frankness, she pulls the story together. Her presence sends it ricocheting between family memories and the troubled present. The odd reunion, however imperfect and inarticulate it may be, bathes the closing pages in love and sadness. Witty, poignant, and true.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
