A Density of Souls

A Sheet of raindrops hit the roofs of the tombs, and a thick mist gradually filled the alley. When the first roll of thunder crackled, Meredith saw Stephen suddenly lift his head. His blue eyes widened and he screamed.

Stephen Conlin and his three friends from childhood, Meredith, Greg and Brandon were once very close. When they go on to high school, and discover the changes that accompany a new place, their friendship shatters. At first this doesn't seem to be completely true -- Greg and Brandon remain tight, and Meredith begins to date Greg, but with their exclusion and derision of Stephen the friendship looses the purity of their elementary school days, and becomes a dangerous and strange thing. Their betrayal of Stephen is immediate, even Meredith, who one expects better from, comes right out and tells the people she would be friends with that he's gay. This makes matters worse for Stephen, because Stephen has just recently understood this about himself and is trying to come to grips with it. The cruelty with which he has to live with everyday makes this daunting task even harder. Meredith joins the drinking and bulimia riddled "popular" crowd, writing her true thoughts, her guilts and regrets down in a journal. Greg and Brandon become star football players, Brandon always a little worried about his best bud, acting a little as if homosexuality is a disease Greg could have caught from Stephen. This weird thought, coupled with other, darker things makes his hatred of Stephen something that can only be relieved by violence. When one of the classmates commits suicide, the worst of the torture seems to end...but years later Jordan, Brandon's brother returns, and begins asking questions, trying to figure out what really happened.

The last lines of my summary make this sound a bit like a murder mystery. It isn't, really. True, what really happened comes into play, but only at the end. The real story is about Stephen, and how he deals with becoming comfortable with his homosexuality, and how he heals from the horrors of high school. He's not the only one trying to heal...Meredith is also trying to get her life back together. There is a large cast of characters whose minds we visit, all of whom are well drawn. There's Elise, Brandon and Jordan's mother, Monica who suspects her son might have had more to do with the suicide than she will ever let on, and Jordan, who comes back to town and tries to find out why his brother has disappeared. The characters are what keep you reading, for they are all interesting people who all have little secrets that unravel as the plot progresses.

The main theme is how a homosexual young man makes sense of himself, and it is handled well and sensitively. Anyone, no matter what his or her gender or orientation, can feel for him. Who doesn't have to try and figure out who they really are, and how to become comfortable in your own skin? In seeing inside the mothers' minds, we get a glimpse of how a mother resigns herself, or embraces what her child is. In seeing his high school life, we are reminded how cruel our fellow humans can be, and how deeply they can mark us even though we try to deny them the ability to. We also see how people react to homosexuality, and the violence that not being accepting of it in others...or themselves...can create.

This is a thoughtful story, one that forces you to try and see outside of yourself. What I mean is, it asks two questions that make you step back and ask yourself things that require distance to answer truthfully. The book asks you to decide how open you are with other people's differences and if, indeed, you are comfortable with yourself to be so open. This story resolves well, but it is not a cheery story, you will not jump up out of your chair and hum a happy tune. It is a soul-heavy book, and hence the name is quite accurate.