Book Review | The Bright Lands by John Fram

After ten years living in New York as an out gay man, Joel Whitley returns to the conservative town of Bentley, Texas, upon receiving cryptic messages from his brother Dylan. When Dylan – a popular high school quarterback – disappears, Joel finds himself embroiled in a mystery that brings light to old memories, dark secrets, and a nightmarish voice that suggests unspeakable things.

i hate it here. it’s like i hear this town talking when i sleep.

The Bright Lands is a stunningly bleak, claustrophobic mystery that lives up to the hype!  In this book, the horror comes not just from otherworldly darkness but from the fear and repression of small-town living. Football is an obsession in Bentley where it chews up and spits out its players, and where status means everything. It’s a sport that could mean a way out of town but its hold means certain privileges come with a price.

The book portrays homophobia, racism, and abuse in a grimly realistic view. I thought Joel is a fascinating protagonist. He has escaped the small town yet his leaving meant turning his back on his family. But to live in a town that shamed him for being gay is unbearable. The dichotomy between freedom and guilt battle inside him, and I felt for him. He reunites with his former girlfriend, Starsha Clark, now Sheriff’s Deputy, whose brother went missing a decade ago. He also meets the other people in the small town, many of whom don’t think highly of him. But there’s a loneliness that lives inside the characters. The whispers and nightmares that happen to them are unpleasant and added to their disconnection.

I thought the plotting is solid, and every puzzle piece fits. The ending is an explosion of sex, drugs, and violence, and I loved the haunting supernatural touch. In the chaos though, I felt the book’s message gets muddled. In its portrayal of closeted gay teens, sexual predators, and old, powerful, white men, the distinction between these groups could have been clearer. I also wish we get a conversation between Joel and Dylan because something feels missing in their relationship. But I suppose it shows that no matter how much you care for someone, you may never know who they really are. I found the book’s willingness to venture into the grief and loss, yet have its characters still emerging with hope, to be quite moving.

Bold and unrelenting, The Bright Lands is one book I won’t be forgetting in a while.

CW: homophobia, sexual assault, statutory rape, domestic violence, drug abuse, suicide

About the author: John Fram

Photo by Steven Abraham