The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

Finding their Roots (seven lakes, book 1)
By Tris Lawrence
Patent Pendragon Press, 2024
Four stars

This is a sweet, lyrical love story, low-key and without undue angst. At first, I just assumed it was the story of Colin, a young man who discovers his bisexuality years after splitting with his ex-partner and co-parenting their daughter with her.

On his way back to Seven Lakes—his family’s upstate New York summer campground from his childhood—his six-year-old spots a bicyclist broken down on a mountain road, and they pick him up. It’s clear from the start that Ash and Colin will connect. Angela, Colin’s daughter, seems to take to Ash right away.

The surprise here is that at one point in the story, it is clear that Colin has forgotten something very important about his family and about his entire childhood community. It appears that he was somehow suppressing more of his past life than his sexuality—in fact, his attraction to men hardly raises an eyebrow.

The life of the Seven Lakes summer community is described in gentle detail, giving the reader an emerging picture of all the relationships that enriched Colin’s life up until he left Seven Lakes a decade earlier. The gradual surprise reveal (can you have a gradual surprise?) gave me shivers, and cast a whole new light on Colin and the world he left behind when he went to college and started a career.

I guess the truth that resonates with me is that, as children, we can realize things about ourselves that frighten us, and cause us to repress aspects of our personalities in order to feel safe. The twist here is that it is not the obvious thing—sexuality—that is the trigger here. I can’t say more without spoiling the surprise.

This is the first book in this promised series, and I look forward to reading what Tris Lawrence offers us next.