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Griffin’s forceful debut novel examines the lives of two men who meet and fall in love in North Carolina shortly after the end of World War II. Wendell Wilson, a taxidermist, falls for war veteran Frank Clifton, and they live cautiously as a couple at a time when being outed as gay meant a prison sentence. They buy a house on the edge of town and rarely venture outside together, instead spending evenings in front of the television watching the broadcast of the local “Debbie Drowner” trial. Flashbacks illustrate their courtship and early years, and illuminate the difficulties in being forced to live a closeted life. They cannot even ask a stranger to take a photograph of them together as a couple. After Frank suffers a mild stroke and is subsequently diagnosed with a deteriorating heart condition, Wendell has to pretend to be his brother in order to visit him in hospital. As Frank’s physical and mental health both begin to unravel, Wendell fights to keep their lives from falling apart. The novel’s descriptive passages are too long at times, but Griffin manages to paint a compassionate portrait of a lifelong love that will linger with readers. (Feb.)