The Orphan from Shepherds Keep

Three Men, Three Intertwined Lives, One Rightful Place in Each Other's Heart - A Gay Novel

De: Lindsay Law

Narrado por: Bolton Marsh

Over a period of thirty years, three gay men struggle to define themselves and make their mark on a turbulent and unwelcoming world that is so filled with anger that love has become a luxury.

The townsfolk describe him as “prettier than a boy should be.” ELI APPLE is embarrassed by such remarks but soon learns to celebrate all the pleasures his beauty invites. He possesses the voice of an angel and the sound of his tender falsetto echoes throughout the green forests that surround his New England home. A rough, older boy, FERRIS COOPER, dazzled by the youngster’s loveliness and captivated by the hymns he sings, secretly follows him on his daily walks. And into both their lives arrives BENJAMIN BERGER, savior to one and beloved by the other. The adventures of these three men become entwined in a surprising tapestry of love and betrayal over the course of thirty years.

Straddling the worlds of music, religion, and art, and set in an era that begins with Ronald Reagan describing America as a “shining city on a hill” and ends with Donald Trump’s legacy of “American carnage,” these characters come of age while America is coming apart. They celebrate as gay marriage is legalized and suffer as gun violence explodes across the country. And when a deadly virus threatens and nations close their borders, they must struggle to survive in an America they no longer recognize.

Emulating the warmth and complexity of male friendships as portrayed in Hannah Yanagihara’s A LITTLE LIFE while also embracing the earthy sensuality of the same-sex couples in Garth Greenwell’s CLEANNESS, the characters in THE ORPHAN FROM SHEPHERDS KEEP are real and imperfect and utterly unforgettable.

©2024 Lindsay Law (P)2025 The Lindsay Group

Wonderful characters that capture the times

An absolutely wonderful story of three men in America from the 80s to the 2020s. The book will resonate with anyone who followed politics and the arts during this period as it shows both the high points and low points from these times. We experience things even more intensely because of the three characters the author introduces us to here. They jump off the page alive and three dimensional and I could not wait to see everything that happened to them, celebrate their happy times and hurt for them at others. I read this book some time ago and have just now listened to the audiobook narrated by Bolton Marsh and it was amazing. The scenes that broke my heart on the page, were even more emotional hearing them and since this is a book that deserves rereading to catch all the tiny moments and nuances, hearing the characters brought to life helped me find some of those things I missed in the read.

unpredictable and unique

wow wow. this story had me from beginning. its unique. a lot going on and very twisty. have some tissues because a few ugly cry moments but a hard earned HEA.

Absolutely blown away

Words are kind of failing me right now as I’ve finished listening to this stunning audiobook. I didn’t know what to expect when I picked it up. The title intrigued me and the cover was evocative of summers I remember at the cottage. There were moments of the idyllic along with much of the intensity that can only come from the coming-of-age story of three young men in late twentieth-century America.

I think of all the characters, I related to Eli the most. Although I wasn’t an orphan, I was adopted at birth in a closed adoption. I only had two sentences about my parents and the social worker’s description of them. I spent almost thirty years wondering. I understood the reasons stated for giving me up, but never truly understood why. Like Eli, I would make stories in my mind. Who my parents were. Might I have siblings? Would they ever come to find me? I have answers to those questions, but the answers came later in my life. Perhaps when I was finally mature enough to deal with the consequences of knowing?

Ferris is a born troublemaker, as my mother would say. Doesn’t know how to stay out of trouble. Winds up dragging Eli into some of that. One shocking event ends their lives as they know them and both go separate ways. Somehow, knowing the other is out there isn’t enough of a comfort. Ferris has a lot of growing to do – if he survives.

Ben has an influence in both the younger men’s lives in ways that are unpredictable and yet impactful. He’s a reluctant hero so very often and he was an easy character to fall in love with.

The intertwining of the three men forms the basis of a stunning story that spans three decades. Being about Ben’s age, and a touch older than Ferris and Eli, I remember all the markers of time. Despite being Canadian, I was steeped in American culture and politics. As a lover of current affairs, I have followed world news all my life. So as the years passed, the author deftly set little time markers to remind me of outside events and, more particularly, how they impacted people’s lives. In this case, these three men’s lives.

I won’t give anything away because I honestly want listeners to have a chance to immerse themselves in powerful storytelling that steals breath, brings tears, and warms the heart. This is a book I didn’t see coming and I will never forget.

Wow.

I have to give a shout out to Bolton Marsh. He’s not a narrator I’ve heard before, but I’ll certainly grab anything else he narrates. He was brilliant.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I’m so grateful it crossed my path at just the right time in my life.