Review: Twenty Years Together by Tom Rob Smith

Tom Rob Smith's latest offering Twenty Years Together is beautifully told meditation on commitment and authenticity within a relationship. The year is 2012. Living in London and working as a nurse, Danny, an idealistic type who wears his heart on his sleeve, wonders if perhaps his relationship with Luis does not gain the respect or recognition by the people in their friendship groups. Danny blames this on the fact that when they first got together twenty years ago, relationships like theirs were often kept under a cloud of secrecy. But in 2012 things are changing for same sex couples, with civil partnerships now an option in England and same marriage legal in Luis' home country, Spain. Danny wonders if by getting married, their relationship will be solidified. Luis reluctantly agrees to Danny's proposal and initially readers are led to believe that Danny is the one who is acting idiotically. Then it turns out that calm, quiet Luis has his on insecurities and a past that he has been running from and needs to reconcile. What the reader gets is a beautiful story that shows the personal growth of Danny and Luis as they work toward the common goal of marriage and their future relationship.

Twenty Years Together is a beautifully told story of an approaching marriage that moves beyond the excitement of engagement parties and big ceremonies to ask the bigger question of why get married and what does that mean. It also takes a look at authenticity, and what it means to be authentic to ones partner and to the world. Entwined in this story of authenticity is a look at how same sex couples have been treated historically and the effect of having one's personal relationship considered to be shameful. Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this one. I experienced a range of emotions as the couple worked through their relationship, and it opened my eyes to a thing or two about relationships. Now this may be a surprising comment, but it is one I made on Instagram earlier in the week and I think it is valid to repeat here. While I suspect that Twenty Years Together will appeal to a broad audience, I would love to challenge anyone who complained that Game Changer and Heated Rivalry were too spicy, not deep enough or realistic enough, to consider this instead. It might just be the book you are looking for.

A beautiful story of commitment. Highly recommended.

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