Acquaintance (Medicine for the Blues Book 1) by Jeff Stookey

Author Jeff Stookey introduces us to Acquaintance:
As a young surgeon, Carl Holman has experienced the horrors of World War I and the loss of his lover, a fellow officer. Back home after the war, he befriends a young jazz musician who he hopes will become a companion he can share his life with. But this is Oregon: the Ku Klux Klan is gaining influence, homosexual acts are illegal, and such a relationship will jeopardize Carl’s promising medical career. Musician Jimmy Harper has his own dreams for the future and his own obstacles to overcome before he will allow himself to accept Carl’s love.
Acquaintance is a deep dive into gay and lesbian history based on extensive period research of the 1920s.
This is Book 1 of the trilogy Medicine for the Blues, a work of LGBT historical fiction which explores the complexities of gender and sexuality through the lens of the early 1920s. It was a time when jazz was becoming popular, Freud was all the rage, social mores were shifting, liquor was illegal, and women had just gotten the vote. The trilogy tells a touching love story set against the dramatic backdrop of this influential era.

The writing in this book is amazing! I am a fan of First-Person point of view, and Jeff Stookey has proven he knows what he is doing. Scenery, settings, dialog and action are handled flawlessly. The characters, major and minor, all breath and live in their world. Jeff has really done his homework; I believe he has captured the milieu of 1920s Portland and local smaller communities in a realistic manner. The reading experience is so much richer for his hard work.
If you are a fan of music, romance, period politics or historical fiction then you will love this book.
I give Acquaintance a score of 4.9 stars.

You can buy the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Acquaintance-Medicine-Blues-Book-1-ebook
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36436235-acquaintance
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acquaintance-Medicine-Blues-book-1
 
You can follow the author:
https://twitter.com/jstookey108
https://jeffstookey.com/
http://medicinefortheblues.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Medicine-for-the-Blues-804068619770425
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-stookey-2b5357141
https://www.flickr.com/photos/153028055@N04/albums
https://www.instagram.com/jeffstookey1923
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Here is the link to the other two books in Jeff's trilogy: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/chicago-blues-medicine-for-the-blues-book-2-dangerous-medicine-medicine-for-the-blues-book-3-by-jeff-stookey

Tags: LGBT, gay, jazz, medicine, Oregon, 

​Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction