The Road Leads Back To Love (Book Review: Michael Thomas Ford, The Road Home)

Michael Thomas Ford's novel, "The Road Home," reminds me of the fiction I used to read in the 90s. (Even the front cover is very 90s styled, I think) Well, maybe because I have been reading Mr. Ford's work since then. This is a recent novel , though, published in 2010. It tells a story of a middle-aged gay man who has a car accident on his birthday. He badly injures his knees, and has to be in a cast. And since he is single and alone, he has to go back to his childhood home with his father (and his new girlfriend) to recuperate, forcing him to face old demons. Along the way, he finds a new version of himself. It's your run-f-the-mill story, but Ford knows how to craft modern characters: Burke, the main character, is instantly likeable, if flawed. You will want to instantly follow his plight. He even touches upon issues such as gay midlife crises, marriage equality, even how closeted youth in this day and age. His situations never seem contrived, and he doesn't resort to lazy writing just to propel the story forward. There's a mildly interesting subplot of a gay relationship during the civil war, and it helps beef up the slim storyline. I liked this book a lot.