Completely Charming

It is so important that gay folk write their stories and get them out there. It is also important that those stories be well written and entertaining. This completely charming tale of one gay couple’s escape from humdrum to Bodrum is exactly the kind of thing that is both fun to read and a valuable document of social history in the making.

Jack Scott and his husband Liam decamp for Turkey because they can’t stand their rat-race lives in London any more. In their late forties, these men decide on Turkey because it seems to best fit their fantasy of living without working while not starving to death. 

But all is not pansies and sunshine. Jack Scott’s memoir of their first year or so in Turkey is fraught with the kind of calamities that make one laugh out loud. And a couple that make one cry. Turkey is the buffer between the Christian West and the Muslim East, a country with ancient roots and very modern absurdities—not the least of which is the British expatriate community. I loved that Scott is fairly blunt in his descriptions of the good, the bad and the simply confusing aspects of modern Turkey and what it takes to settle down there. Clearly, it adds to the laughter, but it also provides a clear-eyed reality check. When you chase your dreams, they tend not to turn out exactly like, well, your dreams. 

There is also a substantial record of both Scott and Liam’s families back in the UK, and some of the most touching revelations come from these asides. Escaping your boring life also means leaving family behind, and for some folks that’s a big deal. 

Our lives are the result of many choices we make along the way. Jack and Liam took a leap of faith, and then refused to be swayed either by setbacks or unexpected weather. This story is a paean to self-fulfillment and looking for happiness wherever it might be. 

Ulysses Grant Dietz