Charleston, SC, Aug. 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Loyal readers of the LGBTQ+ new adult genre will want to check out the latest publication from author Paul Elledge, an amusing, satirical, and relationally complex story titled Liberating Troy. Perfect for present and former English majors, fans of college fiction, and readers interested in the cultural impact of fundamentalist religion, Liberating Troy explores developing same-sex relationships through the turbulent 1950s and early 1960s in Deep South America.
Troy Tyler returns from his summer job at Jubilee, an evangelical camp, to take up new and ambitious challenges as he embarks upon his sophomore year at Louisiana Christian College (LCC). An unconventional, eccentric professor recruits Troy and two other over-achieving undergraduates into an exclusive Honors English club, The Chattertons. Troy soon becomes enamored with the club’s namesake, Thomas (“Tommy”) Chatterton, a young, doubtfully reputable poet in late 18th century England, who lived a short, unhappy, but poetically productive life. Together with two other members of the club, Jack and Ben, Troy pens a theatrical production showcasing Chatterton’s genius, misfortunes, and dishonorable conduct. When news of the play’s liberal use of Beat generation language and practices reaches the LCC administration, the scandalized Dean halts production, but the authors’ popular infamy follows them through graduation.
As Troy and Jack begin English graduate study at Tulane in New Orleans, various friends drift back into their ken: Ben to work as a motorcycle mechanic and volunteer at a community theater; Corky/Kaiden from the summer camp to peddle street food in the Quarter and undertake an intimate affair with Troy; Monte Trevalyn, Troy’s allegedly straight camp roommate, to declare his just recognized love for his former pal. Through Ben, the theater learns of the suppressed Chatterton play and contracts to produce it, introducing complications into Troy’s reactionary family and impacting his institutional obligations. Caught up in a web of academic aspirations, duties, and deadlines, of entangled and demanding relationships, of uncertain dreams and opposing desires, Troy struggles to achieve a stable, personal liberation that will honor both his torn heart and troubled mind.
Liberating Troy sensitively tracks the emergence of a gay identity against a backdrop of repressive religious conservatism through a chaotic and discontented decade. Delightfully introspective and rich with entertaining wit, the novel will resonate with students of literature, educated adults, and readers of LGBTQ+ fiction.
Liberating Troy is available for purchase online at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.
About the Author: Paul Elledge, an Emeritus Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of several scholarly books and many articles. His debut novel, Siege of Troy, was published in 2021. Paul’s passions include long-haired dachshunds, classical music, and books.
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Leah Joseph Palmetto Publishing publicity@palmettopublishing.com
