Frontiers [Hardcover]

I readily admit I have problems with gay historical novels. Of course there are exceptions, but most of these books tend to use contemporary language and slang, and are told from a modern point of view, leaving me feeling like I've just attended a costume party instead of completing a work of viable fiction. I am thrilled to say that FRONTIERS by Michael Jensen is one of the previously mentioned exceptions. The painstaking research and the almost obsessive attention to detail are apparent from page one of this mesmerizing, and edge-of-your-seat-exciting story. I felt as if I had been transported to the harsh and unforgiving landscape of 1798 Western Pennsylvania, where I watched the life of protagonist, John Chapman, unfold.

John Chapman, fleeing an impoverished childhood and an abusive father, has been running for his safety since he turned 14. (...). As the adventure begins John, living in Lower Canada, has been having a relationship with a Major in the British Army. The affair has been discovered by local authorities, and John and the Major are forced to make a dash for freedom. Unfortunately, the Major gets shot so John, on his own, heads for the Western frontier in hopes of staking a claim and starting his own farm. (...)

Winter is coming on and, John, with no frontier skills, wanders across the Allegheny Plateau in search of an outpost called Warren, where he has read, claims, and the supplies to work them, are being offered to settlers. Near starvation, our hero is discovered, and taken in for the winter, by a gruff and drunken woodsman. Discovering his benefactor has some deep and disturbing secrets, John once again flees at the first sign of spring.

He heads for the small settlement known as Franklin. Once again on the brink of disaster, John is led by an Indian woman to an abandoned claim a days walk from the new town. Encouraged by the settlement leader to take over the claim, John decides to stay. Among the few settlers he meets, is Palmer Baxter, a brash but handsome, seventeen year old frontiersman. Desperate to keep his natural inclinations in check, John does his best to discourage young Palmer, but the boy has no intention of being kept at bay. Even though they are on the very outskirts of society, John and Palmer must still face the overly-suppressive circumstances of the day. Added to this pressure, is the re-emergence of an incredibly evil presence from John's past. This is the outside edge of the known civilized world, and wrong decisions can easily equal death. Can John and Palmer survive the tremendous odds stacked against them?

Jensen is able to weave an incredibly romantic love story, despite the extremely cruel and prejudicial attitudes of this society, inside an outdoor adventure to rival anything ever written by Jack London.
This wonderful novel hooked me and reeled me in faster than a trout in a shallow stream. Jensen's incredible sense of detail and his sharp writing style made for one heck of an entertaining read. The scenes painted here provide the reader with a very real sense of time and place; a repressive time in an incredibly beautiful but dangerous place. I understand there is to be a sequel, I for one can't wait. I HIGHLY recommend this book, especially for anyone with an interest in accurate historical fiction.

Some think it's a sort of Harlequin romance, which may be so. But I found that it had an interesting historical relevance, as most all Westerns delete any reference to the part gay men played in early US history.

I found the repressive environment, the sexual tension, and the hard life well-described. I have a hardcover version, with a very beautiful painting used as cover art. It's a book I'm keeping, and may read again, which is rare.

This isn't Proust, or Nobel lit, but stands out as one of few Western novels about gay men. As others have mentioned, it could well be made into a compelling film.