Book Review: Bully by Emme Dun

Gaming

bully it is the first novel by Emme Dun with which she made a grand entrance. This gay/lesbian legal thriller based on true events will reveal to you the darker undertones of the American justice system.

Although this book is about the legal system, the LGBT community and their struggles… although this book is about many things, the central theme is the sacred bond between a child and his mother. Emme Dun presents two reflected stories of custody trials born of revenge. Wendy White and Jennifer Dolan’s children are at risk of being snatched away by spiteful ex-partners. This is the only thread that unites these completely different people who live in their separate worlds. Wendy White is a lesbian vet who gave up on ever finding true love again and settled (for comfort) with just a breeze of romance. She gave birth with the help of artificial insemination to her Abigail, whom she swore to protect as soon as she held the baby in her arms. But she will soon discover that this promise will be more difficult to keep than she ever imagined. On the other hand, Jennifer serves to introduce the same theme set in a heterosexual relationship. However, both families can be characterized as unconventional. Furthermore, in both cases a battle is waged between the biological parent and the “heart.” If you’re curious about what exactly a “heart father” is, Patricia Brown, one of the characters, can shed some light: it’s “the other father, not the biological father, but the one who has been there the whole time taking care of and support the child.

Emme Dun is professionally familiar with the American justice system and shares her years of legal insight and knowledge. The abuse of power is challenged with the help of Pat Brown and Joanna Crawford. Although this is not always due to malicious intent, it invariably leads to unfortunate results and harm to innocent people. Furthermore, the leaking of personal matters into our professional lives can have disastrous consequences. While it is difficult to separate subjectivity from objectivity and the personal from the professional, and some overlap is inevitable, it is important not to lose sight of the best interests of the child. There is a fine line between a natural tendency to compensate for our past mistakes and shortcomings and the need to overcompensate.

A generous span of time is covered by bully, since the path will begin in the 1980s, a period marked by the AIDS epidemic, and will end in the present. To help you place yourself in time, Emme Dun points out some important events, including 9/11. These are just a guide though and I would have preferred such notorious events or periods (especially the 80’s) to draw more attention, even at the risk of going a little off focus with the main characters.

I must warn readers that the first half of the book may seem a bit slow. The separate narrative chains come together only halfway through the novel, so it takes quite a few pages for all the characters to converge. But once they do, the action really picks up and keeps your heart racing until the very end. However, perhaps the greatest achievement of bully He is conveying to the reader the sense of paralyzing helplessness that some characters feel.

In short, this is a novel about an attempt to secularize the bond between mother and son that ends in a “Roar”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *