Aqua Follies Liv Rancourt Books
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Aqua Follies Liv Rancourt Books
I'm not sure how to describe how I felt about Aqua Follies except to say that I loved it. It's the first book I've read by Liv Rancourt but it won't be the last. Aqua Follies is set in 1955. As the book blurb says it was a time of postwar exuberance, conformity, rock and roll, and - homophobia.Russell is in Seattle as an assistant coach with his aunt's group, the Aqua Dears, a synchronized swim team performing in the Aqua Follies at the 1955 Seattle Seafair. Russell knows what he is, that he prefers men over women, but that's against the law so he's determined to settle down and make a life with his girl, Susie.
Skip is a horn player, whose music is hauntingly beautiful, and he plays in the Aqua Follies band. When they look at each other across the audience, a silent, yet powerful, link is formed. Despite the law, and all of the things that are against them, these two men form a deep connection in the space of a few days.
This story touched me on so many levels. As a child, I remember watching synchronized swimmers on TV and I also performed a very small routine one summer during a show at my local swimming pool. So, reading about the Aqua Follies and the Seattle Seafair (an actual event that still takes place) brought back a lot of memories for me.
To read about Russell trying to suppress who he really is and the things that he and Skip have to do just so they can be together was at times heart wrenching. I wanted to hate Russell's "girlfriend," Susie but she had her own things to deal with.
Aqua Follies gave me a bit of a book hangover; it's a story that I will be thinking about for a while and considering how many books I read, that's saying something.
A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
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Tags : Amazon.com: Aqua Follies (9780998582238): Liv Rancourt: Books,Liv Rancourt,Aqua Follies,Liv Rancourt,0998582239,FICTION Romance LGBT Gay,FICTION Romance Gay
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Aqua Follies Liv Rancourt Books Reviews
There’s so much to love about Aqua Follies. The mid-1950s is not your usual setting for a male/male romance novel, but Liv Rancourt brings that era to life brilliantly well. There are party phone lines, jazz lounges, and pomaded pompadours. There are blazers and ties for the men, curled hair and red lipstick for the women. There’s the behaviour ‘accepted for a young lady’ and the girls struggling to break free of the shackles. And of course there’s the awful social and legal persecution of men suspected of being gay.
Aqua Follies is not a ‘sweetness and light’ read. It’s gritty and uncomfortable much of the time, because the society these young gay men are forced to live in is just so horrible. They’re forced to hide everything they feel, hide everything they do, hide in fact their true selves from the world. For Russell, this results in denial and suppression, deep shame at being ‘perverted’, guilt when he succumbs. For Skip, on the other hand, raised among musicians and theatre types, it leads him to boldness and sometimes rash actions.
Skip is a loveable character. He’s open-hearted and he follows his heart. He’s part of an accepting community, and although he has his own struggles, he’s fully accepting of himself and goes after love with everything he has.
It’s really Russell’s story though, and he is a lot more complicated, constantly battling himself, denying himself, despising himself. He comes across as a jerk a lot of the time as he tramples Skip’s poor heart again and again, but his fears are very understandable and real. I adored him in the first third of the book, really felt for him as he found his object of desire and battled certain dark thoughts while trying to conform to the hetero ‘norm’. Then I got mad with him during the middle — and felt every bit of Skip’s frustration as Russell blew hot and cold cold cold. By the end, though, he melted my heart with his eventual self-acceptance and earnest love for Skip, especially as he takes decisive action and changes things in his life to be with him. Even though his self-realisation takes a while to arrive, he gets there in the end.
Overall, it’s a fabulous book that brings the 1950s to life and tells a fairly difficult love story that continues to resonate in my mind. The writing is slick and accomplished, the supporting characters vivid and present, the sex scenes judiciously placed and by no means gratuitous. This is a novel with depth and complexity at both the emotional and historical level — as much a novel of Russell’s coming of age and a portrayal of life in the 1950s, as a romance. I now want a sequel to see how Russell and Skip get on with their lives, because the ending seems quite open-ended, particularly given the precarious nature of such relationships at that time.
Aqua Follies is a historical male/male romance set against an uniquely fun and interesting backdrop -The 1950's Seattle Seafair, a celebration that included the Aqua Follies and their swimusicals.
First, I have to say that Ms. Rancourt went above and beyond in her research, from the Seafair itself, to the musicians, swimmers, the secretive and dangerous life of those who love someone of the same sex, down to what a stay in a sanitorium was like back then. This may not seem important to some, but to me, the story is so much better when the author puts you in a different time and you truly feel like you're there.
It's hard to get lost in a story if you can't relate to the characters. Once again Ms. Rancourt has written the main characters and secondary characters to almost perfection. Russell, an Aqua Follies coach, is confused and naive about his sexuality. He knows deep down he's gay, but has trouble reconciling that in his life. His plans include marrying his long time girlfriend, Susie, because that's what men do. Then he meets Skip, a musician for the Aqua Follies. He's the opposite of Russell. He's not confused at all about who he is. Although he knows there are risks of getting thrown in jail and losing his job, he's much more brazen about living his life as who he is - albeit with a watchful eye over his shoulder.
I don't write spoilers and try not to rehash the blurb in my reviews. But tagging along with Russell and Skip and seeing how they interact with friends and family (not ever showing their true selves even to those closest to them) to each other, both discovering and learning how to overcome their different outlooks on how they should live their lives, was a pleasure. Aqua Follies is a strongly written story, sprinkled with humor and some heartbreakingly sad moments.
Well done Ms. Rancourt!
I'm not sure how to describe how I felt about Aqua Follies except to say that I loved it. It's the first book I've read by Liv Rancourt but it won't be the last. Aqua Follies is set in 1955. As the book blurb says it was a time of postwar exuberance, conformity, rock and roll, and - homophobia.
Russell is in Seattle as an assistant coach with his aunt's group, the Aqua Dears, a synchronized swim team performing in the Aqua Follies at the 1955 Seattle Seafair. Russell knows what he is, that he prefers men over women, but that's against the law so he's determined to settle down and make a life with his girl, Susie.
Skip is a horn player, whose music is hauntingly beautiful, and he plays in the Aqua Follies band. When they look at each other across the audience, a silent, yet powerful, link is formed. Despite the law, and all of the things that are against them, these two men form a deep connection in the space of a few days.
This story touched me on so many levels. As a child, I remember watching synchronized swimmers on TV and I also performed a very small routine one summer during a show at my local swimming pool. So, reading about the Aqua Follies and the Seattle Seafair (an actual event that still takes place) brought back a lot of memories for me.
To read about Russell trying to suppress who he really is and the things that he and Skip have to do just so they can be together was at times heart wrenching. I wanted to hate Russell's "girlfriend," Susie but she had her own things to deal with.
Aqua Follies gave me a bit of a book hangover; it's a story that I will be thinking about for a while and considering how many books I read, that's saying something.
A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
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