Hubris of the Lonely
What a difference 4 days made
What a difference just four days made… Unfolding over a long weekend during the Covid-19 pandemic, Hubris of the Lonely is a soul-stirring story involving obsessive devotion to an unattainable forbidden love. Told mainly in dialogue form, it was inspired by a handwritten diary found among a mixed lot of books purchased at auction.
Following a three-decade hiatus, Joseph lands in his hometown of Whanganui, New Zealand, to attend a funeral and to support his identical twin-brother, John. Joseph, seemingly, has it all. The complete package – A handsome charming healthy man, professionally and materially successful, with youthful looks that belie his actual 48 years of age. A giant in his field of human psychology, for which he travels the world on speaking tours and book signing. Yet it’s perhaps a case of physician, heal thyself, for while he can uncover, research, and treat the obsessions of others, he’s unable to address his own obsessive passion. He’s not blind to it, but incapable or just refusing to overcome it.
He fled his hometown the morning following his 18th birthday to escape discovery by his conservative family not only of his homosexuality but of his forbidden passionate love of another. After thirty years of loyalty, loneliness, and celibate contemplating the impossible, he returns to his hometown unsure of the consequences. Being mistaken for his twin-brother, he witnesses and takes part in a series of life changing events. While aiding other’s debilitating obsessions and unlocking their sexual awakenings, his own past actions and obsessive passion unravel.
In the course of four days, dark and cruel secrets of a treachery are unveiled. Joseph finds out that his future had been secretly concocted by others. From pain and disillusion to healing and forgiving, he finds fulfillment in love and sexual passion in the arms of an ordinary, yet his very special man.
— Contains mature and gay themes, including sex scenes graphically described in narrative, action, and dialogue.
