BETWEEN THE LINES

A meaningful story for the times

Judge Not

Independent booksellers usually know how to pick them, and they put Southernmost on their “great-reads” lists as soon as it was published in the summer of 2018. The paperback edition comes out June 4, 2019.

Author Silas House has tackled the ticklish issue of LGBTQ rights in the midst of evangelical Tennessee, then moving the story to “anything-goes” Key West. He makes it real for every place and opinion in between.

It’s a compelling and meaningful story, centering on Asher, an evangelical preacher. Following a catastrophic flood during which a gay couple rescues Asher’s son, he has a change of heart—and faith—in how he views people who don’t conform to his religious view of the world.

This leads to a divorce and bitter custody battle over his 8-year-old son, Justin, resulting in the preacher taking his son and fleeing to Key West. To add a level of difficulty to the plot, the destination is the last known

address of Asher’s brother, Luke, who he abandoned long ago because of Luke’s sexual identity. Although the story of

Southernmost revolves around Asher, it is Justin who makes the book sing. He often shows himself to be wiser than his father. For example, he acknowledges that his mother did not tell the truth during the custody hearing, “but this still doesn’t feel right,” Justin said, “to run off like this.”

Father and son cobble together a life among the quirky characters of Key West. Asher finds work, friends, love, and eventually his brother, which brings him full circle back to his Tennessee roots.

There are sympathetic characters on all sides in this story, showing how even the most contentious issues have many layers. Justin’s character, however, turns out to see the world more clearly than any of the adults— the voice of a child the one most likely to speak the truth.

There are sympathetic characters on all sides in this story, showing how even the most contentious issues have many layers.