Reviews:
Blood Warm is a delight and Robert Burdette Sweet is that rarest
of rare birds, the born storyteller. Writing with the skill and delicacy
of a cloisonné artist and yet with the bold surging expressiveness
of a fauve painter, Sweet creates a living, dancing, laughing, loving world.
Bob Sweet, the narrator of Blood Warm,
has run away seeking oblivion. Bowed by responsibility, social constraints,
his job and the pernicious influence of his mother, he is an alien in his
own country. Sexually conflicted, stumbling and socially clumsy, he escapes
to a tropical island hoping for peace and freedom.
And we enter into this lush, colourful world with him.
We see the sunset, feel the humidity among the tree ferns, our feet move
to the compelling beat of the voodoo drums and our blood rushes at the sight
of the dark-skinned, beautiful Junior. We even feel the strain of paradise
when it becomes a cage.
Nothing is accidental in this skillfully written, richly
comic novel; each incident follows another with a natural inevitability and
Sweet's characters are vivid and engaging: capricious Jessamine, willful
Margo, the irritating Daisy and Edmond, the frightening mysterious Lemba,
and the sweet and sexy Junior.
And, somehow, along the way, we fall in love with Bob.
— Ralph Higgins
------------------------------------
Fleeing to the Caribbean in the 1950's, a closeted gay American writer contends
with a gorgeous, affectionate widow, her mysterious maid, an expensive American
prostitute seeking her soulmate, a charmismatic native man, movie stars on
location, and a primal island mambo. Freshly drawn and quirky, Blood
Warm is a very funny, sexy, insightful book.
---June Rachuy Brindel, author of Phaedra and
Ariadne, St. Martin's Press.
---------------------------
The tale opens as Bob, an agoraphobic with a fear of dogs is writing his
suicide note. Sitting on his bed in the tropics with mosquito netting hanging
all around, Bob has arrived in Grenada with a plan for killing himself by
plunging into the sea. It is October 10, 1955. With his note completed Bob
decides to locate a piano. Playing the piano has always given him a sense
of joy. Before long Bob is involved with one of the more wealthy persons
living on the island. Jessamine Hempstead is a pale skinned native woman
who happens to own a piano.
Writer Sweet has fabricated an estimable work in
Blood Warm. Sweet nimbly sets down a pleasantly puzzling account
filled with vivid characters, absorbing conversation and interesting settings.
The plot is masterfully engineered to keep the reader intrigued and turning
the page. The story line is occupied with changes, drifts, deceit and
maneuvering. Blood Warm presents a complex narrative propelling
the reader at a stimulating rate between the past and the present as Main
Character Bob strives to sort out his previous and present alliances. None
of them have been particularly satisfying beginning with his relationship
with his mother and continuing to the island where he is attracted to first
one then another of the persons he meets. Author Sweet's mastery of singularity
is superb. Exceptional environments, resonance, fragrance and piquancy are
all described in impressive particularity to tease the senses. The writer
evinces a perspicuous cleverness for language; he paints a sharply focused
account certain to keep the reader wanting more. Bob is not a champion in
the sense of 'hero' notwithstanding he is a most fascinating character fleshed
out with many of the identical drawbacks, blemishes and frailties as beleaguere
most of us.
Blood Warm is a compelling read as the
reader follows a young man who appears to have mixed feelings about himself,
his life, his sexuality and most everything he encounters. Not for everyone,
those who are offended by reference to gay life will not enjoy the book.
Those who are looking for an absorbing, well written, 'slice of life tale'
wherein the Main Character has gay tendencies are sure to find the book to
their liking. Interesting read, happy to recommend.
---molly martin, http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mollymartin
http://www.AuthorsDen.com/mjhollingshead
-------------------------------
Originally published in 2000, the newly released, second edition of Robert
Burdette Sweet's Blood Warm weaves a tale around one man's
journey into solitude as he struggles with his inner identity.
Narrated by a protagonist named Bob Sweet, Blood
Warm propels readers back to the 1950s, where a tropical island in
the Caribbean awaits Bob's ultimate journey. Bob, a writer by trade, initially
ventures to the island to commit suicide. It seems that the contraints of
city life--job, responsibilities and a destructive mother--are too much for
him.
However, the final wish for Bob to play the piano brings
him to a fateful meeting with a woman named Jessamine. Jessamine quickly
befriends Bob (or Boob, as she calls him) and opens the doors to a new world
of self-discovery for Bob. Soon after, Bob questions his own sexual identity
as he meets Junior, a young dark-skinned man whom Bob begins lusting after.
With its cast of richly descriptive characters,
Blood Warm takes readers into rarely seen, descriptive territory.
With the Voodoo religion embracing Bob on his journey for solitude and the
discovery of his own individuality, Sweet's mysterious (and often witty)
prose is chock full of surprises.
While Sweet's artistic talent for the written word propels
Blood Warm, readers may find themselves bewildered by the
convoluted plot and lack of continuity. Yet, if one reaches the end of the
story, he, like the main character, will have discovered the importance of
achieving self-understanding.
-- Andrew Wolter, X-Factor (Phoenix)
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