Defense of an Other is a legal thriller that combines political fiction like Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One, southern storytelling, and the original Law & Order’s gritty realism.
One Friday, the life of a young lawyer named Matt Durant descends into every queer person’s nightmare when he walks out of the wrong bar at the wrong time. Struggling with his attraction to other men, after a … Struggling with his attraction to other men, after a few beers, Matt works up the courage to visit a gay bar in the French Quarter to seek the comfort of conversation with strangers. But, unknown to Matt, the stranger he meets is deeply compromised. In an alley behind the bar, they’re attacked and Matt kills one of their attackers. Arrested for murder and thrown in Orleans Parish Prison, Matt’s then put on trial for murder.
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I was first drawn to read this book because its setting is New Orleans. I loved this city, and the French Quarter in particular, before I ever had the chance to actually visit. It all started when I played the video game Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers that required visiting various locales to finish. Then, of course, there was Anne Rice, not totally because of her infamous vampire novels, but because of THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS an historical novel of the city in the 1840s. New Orleans’ place in history comes from both actual events and a rich folklore.
As I started reading, anticipation was high. As I read, that anticipation was not fulfilled. As a general rule, I don’t do spoilers. For the most part, I want my reviews to reflect the quality of the read and not the retelling of the tale. I’m going to do spoilers.
I’m not sure about what the author was attempting to convey through her main character Matt Durant. Matt, a 28-year-old lawyer in New Orleans might be gay, he’s not sure. He’s broken up with a long-time girlfriend but has been attracted to his own sex since middle school. He finds men attractive but does everything and anything to dampen those feelings. He, apparently, never experimented at all with a same-sex relationship. So is this a coming of age and coming out novel?
One of Matt’s distractions from his confusion is boxing for the exercise and discipline. His routing does not include actually striking his sparring partner.
Matt Durant decides to have a few beers at home and then go to a gay bar in the French Quarter. It is not his first visit to Drink; he previously went there at the behest of the ex-girlfriend. This time he goes solo in hopes of figuring out his sexual orientation. He’s 28 years old and still confused?
While sitting at the bar, Matt is approached by another patron offering to buy him a drink. One thing leads to another, so they move to a table away from the loud music to continue a conversation. A long line for the men’s room encourages the two men to use the back alley as their toilet. They are approached by three thugs who decide it’s time to beat up some gay guys. So it’s a book about a hate crime? Joey Buckner, openly gay, gets his nose smashed so badly that it takes two reconstructive surgeries to repair it. One of the thugs approached Matt with a knife. Matt is holding a beer bottle and reflexively uses it as a weapon when attacked. He jams the unbroken neck of the bottle into the thugs neck not once, but twice, killing him. He does not flee the scene but returns to the bar to call the police.
The sham police investigation provides the District Attorney with a drug deal scenario that never happened, the trial for capital murder is scheduled for a mere six weeks after Matt’s arrest. Matt is found guilty but is not sentenced to death. He gets life without parole. Is this a courtroom thriller? The trial seems to consist of four witnesses against the defendant… the investigating detective, Joey Buckner whose life Matt probably saved, and the two thugs who attacked Matt and Joey in the alley. So you have three eyewitnesses and a cop who suggested the drug deal gone bad to the thugs before questioning them together. Incompetence or corruption? Either way, I’ve watched enough “Law & Order,” along with more dead body shows that are police or forensic procedurals to shake my head at the notion. The courtroom scenes lack drama and seem totally perfunctory.
Forgive me if I sound harsh, but as fiction goes I wasn’t thrilled. One of the reasons I don’t read a book blurb very carefully is that I want to discover the book without preconceived notions. I do look for key words like specific locations and/or specific plot lines. Words like crime and murder sort of jump off the page (or screen) at me. For that reason, I had no idea who the author was before I started reading.
Very near the end of the book, Matt’s lawyer argues a case before the Supreme Court narrowly drawn from his Louisiana court case. During voir dire, the prosecutor uses a peremptory challenge to excuse a gay juror for no apparent reason other than that potential juror’s sexual orientation. The arguments made by both sides were, for me, the most riveting part of the book. The lawyers and Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, and Justice Ginsberg sparred in totally believable exchanges. I did read the after material at the end of the book where Ms. Mead states that the Supreme Court transcript is fictional. In every instance where the argument was raised to move gay rights forward throughout the book, I found clear and compelling legal opinion. I am not, nor have I ever been, a lawyer. I have a dear friend who is, and who has worked for years on issues of gay rights. He has mentioned to me the need for the LGBTQ community to be declared a suspect class by the Supreme Court. Ms. Mead’s legal writing here is spot on.
Now the question is how many stars? From a factual point of view, I would have to give this book 5 stars. However, the fiction does fall flat in a number of ways. I found Matt to be a less than believable character and way too whiny. I more, or less, feel that he ranks somewhere very close to Bella, in the Twilight series. All of the surrounding cast is too superficial. The plot goes in too many directions without delving deeply into any of them. Some of the exposition boils down to TMI. Am I sorry I read it? No. Would I recommend it? That would depend on who was asking.
end was disappointing
I haven’t finished this book. I find it slow paced & a bit boring.
I found the book intersting. A court room type drama. I felt it moved slowly in places. It wasn’t what I had expected. Would I read it again? Probably not. But it is worth reading once. I think that my issue with it was… Just when you think things are going to change in a good way the book stops. Yes, you can draw your own conclusions and I did. Maybe there will be a part 2 that’s alot more involving. I felt like an observer and i like being able to fit myself into the story.
I think this book was quite amazing. It was a sad story and you bonded with the main character. There is a lot of emotion in this book. It is one that you will remember for sure. I think the plot was so realistic and could be so true. I was glad to be able to read this book.
I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
DNF: 60%
I don’t always review books I don’t finish but I felt I gave this one enough time that I could leave a review. I did not enjoy this book. The summary made it sound like it was going to be this great legal drama centered around a gay man and the prejudices still prevalent against homosexuals. I was hoping for wonderful characters and edgy, tense drama. It sounded like a gripping read.
What I got was a bland, almost clinical procedural. I was never really given a chance to care for the characters before everything was underway. I kept reading because I thought maybe it took a bit longer to really get into it but I still didn’t care after Matt’s trial. It lacked a depth I was craving.
I didn’t see the point in continuing.
Loved it, would have loved to have an ending to the story but was hard to put down
OMG! Thrilling, Heartbreaking, Intense,
I have to start out by saying that I loved this book but it’s not the type of story I’d usually read. I normally only read romance stories, and mostly only gay romance, but something about the book’s description grabbed me. I picked it up from NetGalley and I’m so glad that I did. I loved it so much that I ended up buying a copy, too.
Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down. The blurb really tells it all but it can’t begin to convey how heart-breaking the story would be. I’ve always loved watching shows like Law and Order so I found the details of the trial, fact gathering, investigation, etc. very compelling.
I really feel like I can’t say too much for fear of giving too much away. The only thing I’m going to say is this: Grace Mead, I implore you to write a sequel.
I really enjoyed this book. It hit on so many emotions. To think that this actually does take place makes it very sad. I have never read this author before but you have written a great book, thanks!
About Defense of An Other (From Author’s Website):
“In Defense of an Other, I tried to heed Toni Morrison’s advice to write the book you want to read, in three ways,” said Grace, who was born and raised in Louisiana. “First, I hope it’s a story that would command attention over beers on a back porch in Louisiana — in the first couple of chapters, there’s boxing, drinking, dancing, a killing, and prison. Second, I hope it engages the reader in complex legal issues, crucial in deciding which politicians to elect and which judges to appoint. Finally, I hope it captures the loneliness, isolation, and pain of being closeted and fearing violence from strangers and rejection from those you love most. I couldn’t have written a book of this quality before my transition.”
Grace Mead wrote five essays in which she discusses her life experiences. The essays are On Identity, On Religion, On Depression, On Kindness, and On Happiness. I have provided excerpts from each essay below but encourage readers to take the time to read each essay in its entirety.
On Identity: “In Defense of an Other, I have placed words in some secondary characters’ mouths that I desperately needed to hear; validation that no one is blameworthy because of their race or sexual orientation or gender identity; validation that those viewpoints are fundamentally wrong; and validation that when the State acts based on those viewpoints it is unjust.
Diversity has value for many reasons, including that a diverse cast of characters makes for a more interesting story and opens up more plot possibilities. But a novelist will always bring her individual perspective to bear on those characters; unlike the collaborative work of the movie Brokeback Mountain or the television show Pose, my novel is inevitably written from a more restricted viewpoint. But I couldn’t imagine writing a story worthy of this subject matter without people of various colors, of different genders, of different sexual orientations, or of different backgrounds. The use of dialect is also intentional—the cadences of a person’s speech and words chosen are telling. Most obviously, people with prejudices use slurs.
I am a transwoman, a lawyer, a reader, a thinker, a writer, and many other things, but we are all human. And that remains transcendent.”
On Religion: “Because I was too reactive to the possibility of hell and those that threatened it, as a teenager, I was atheist. In college, I took a course on modern Jewish history and the professor skillfully revealed the author of the principal secondary text to be anti-religious. I was compelled to admit that no one can disprove the existence of God and that many religious people, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. or Billy Graham or Mother Theresa, have been an enormous force of good. Many I’ve known personally are wonderful. And so for a while I was an atheist striving to become agnostic, until sometime in my 20s or 30s I became trusting enough to call myself agnostic. I now hope to be spiritual.
Though I now rule out few possibilities, I will be surprised if I will ever feel safe embracing the religion of my childhood. But I hope, in my lifetime, my being will stop being regarded as a sin.”
On Depression: “At 18, I swallowed a bottle of pills and tried to kill myself—it’s now the failure of which I’m proudest, surviving the epidemic of depression, dysphoria, and discrimination that has killed far too many women like me. Most differ from me in two ways—they are women of color and of humble means. But neither difference deserves death.
But I remained depressed and both desperate for medical help and afraid of it—lurking in the back of my mind wasn’t the prospect of conversion therapy but rather schizophrenia. So I became a psychology major, and in the midst of my depression sought out the chair of the department, from whom I’d taken a class. He recommended my college therapist, from whom I’d taken abnormal psychology.
She saved my life, though I was too frightened to admit any transgender ideation to her. In her presence, I may not have smiled, but for the first time I crossed my legs at the knee in front of someone else. While under the stress of concealing my transgender ideation from a brilliant therapist, I also experienced a hypomanic episode of about a week. But, aside from too little sleep and some hyperactivity, there were few consequences—I quickly saw a psychiatrist who prescribed me Wellbutrin and Depakote. Though the drugs prevented any hypomania or mania, and my depression lifted enough to make it through the day, she and I well knew the depression still plagued me. But we couldn’t find a solution, and I was off to The University of Chicago Law School after being admitted off the wait list.
Others have made it through what you’re surviving and found happiness—if you’re queer, you can look, as I did, to Janet Mock; if you have a mood disorder, you can look, as I did, to Kay Redfield Jamison; and if you are schizophrenic, you can look to Elyn R. Saks. All have written books, and Elyn Saks gave a TED Talk. And, for each, know that there are many more who have found happiness but choose to live quieter, more private lives.”
On Kindness: “To find my fears unfounded has been humbling. I should have expected better from those around me. After beginning at Stearns Weaver Miller in 2007 but long before the announcement of my transition, in 2008 and 2010, I voluntarily admitted myself to the hospital for two bouts of mania, each lasting about two weeks. The discretion and consideration surrounding my health and privacy was astonishing.
A transition is a transition, and no one passes in the beginning all the time. You receive funny looks; at times, you’re discouraged from using safe restrooms; some regard you with disgust; and strangers can be unkind. But then I had an insight—whether I pass or I’m read I always need carry myself with at least the pretense of confidence and attempt to show courtesy and kindness. It worked.”
On Happiness: “I’ve always known I was fortunate for many reasons, but since transitioning, for the first time, I feel fortunate.
I read and heard many things before beginning my transition about the impact on those who are prepared—job performance improves, dysphoria can abate, depression can subside, but I was least prepared for happiness.
Yet a funny thing happened about 18 months into presenting authentically full-time—I became happy.
My perception of the world has fundamentally changed as if I no longer see in black and white but now see the entire color spectrum, ranging from infrared to ultraviolet. I think of myself as seeing beyond the color spectrum because, as I’ve thought through my transition and lived it, I’ve found some maladaptive behavior falling away but have also tried, with a measure of self-awareness, to retain adaptive behaviors.”
My Review:
Defense of an Other is Grace Mead’s debut novel that she self-published. Mead readily admits “all views and any errors are hers.” Aside from a few editorial errors, Defense of an Other is a superbly written novel. The Publisher and the Author’s Website provide adequate information on their description of the novel.
Most startling was what Mead revealed about equality, “from 2013 to 2015, in the years in which the Supreme Court was considering the same-sex marriage issue, according to data voluntarily reported to the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics Project, there were over 3900 victims of hate crimes based on sexual orientation, including those who were murdered.” We see things that represent change but unfortunately, these things remain the same.
Not surprising in Mead’s “A Note on Louisiana and the Characters.” Mead is speaking about Louisiana when she writes, “I’ve worked through my own self-loathing through a series of approximations: thinking of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, biases against those in rural areas, biases against those with humbler means, biases against those with certain political beliefs, heterosexism, homophobia, and then, finally, transphobia as I met people of all sorts who were considerate and kind. In the end, having encountered so many types of caring people, including trans individuals, I was left no choice but to stop hating myself.” Louisiana biases? Sadly these same biases are in every corner of our country where people live in fear and hate who they are for the sake of their safety. Sadder is the fact that we now live in a time where biases and hate are encouraged.
I encourage everyone who reads this blog post to read Grace Mead’s five essays in their entirety, and as you do, remember love is a verb. It was Mead’s essays that spoke to me the loudest. I would like to see Grace wrap those essays up together with added subjects in a memoir. After all, these are the issues of today.
Thank you to Clink Street Publishing, Grace Meade and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this novel.
Defense of an Other, written by Grace Mead is a fictional legal thriller of sorts, but not in the real sense. In my opinion, this book could definitely read as a nonfiction book. Defense of an Other will keep you on the edge of your seat in ways that you won’t anticipate. After reading the synopsis of this book I knew exactly what the book was about, the law, how it is, at times, behind the times, unfair to some communities and biased. This book was exceptionally well written and thought out, paying particular attention to the period and the social issues of those times. The characters were well developed and stayed true to themselves throughout the book. I was easily able to relate and feel empathy for the main character. I do not think that you need to be part of the LGBTQ community to enjoy this book. Actually, I think that this book can help people see that we all have a responsibility to all communities to ensure they are treated equally including when it pertains to our judicial system.
Matt Durant, the main character, is a successful lawyer who is struggling with his sexuality and is attempting to explore his sexual orientation by going to a gay bar. Through a series of unfortunate events, Matt kills a man and is then put on trial. The author through her writing enables the reader to feel the happiness, sadness, compassion and sheer willpower to overcome the ignorance that her characters experience in this book. I felt entirely connected to Matt as a person. Mead did not make this man perfect, far from it, he definitely had flaws, but in my mind, it made his character more believable and relatable. As a mother, I could feel the depth that Matt’s mother felt for what her son had to go through, not just during the trial but also with his struggle to acknowledge that he was gay. The relationship that the two shared was extraordinary, and the author captures it perfectly.
I found the trial part of the book fascinating, and the detail that the author put into this part of the book was terrific. The constitutional questions that the author set forth and the way she did it was pure genius. My favorite part was the back and forth dialogue between Matt’s lawyer, Farrar, and Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia and Justice Ginsburg. I felt this part gave the reader an accurate glimpse into the Supreme Court’s process.
Defense of an Other engaged me on so many levels I was unable to put it down and read it in about three days, I am a slow reader, so that is pretty fast for me. This is the type of book I will remember for a long time to come. It is not an easy book to stomach because of all the bigotry and hate, but it is so worth it to experience how the human spirit can rise above it all. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.
***I kindly received a copy of this book by way of NetGalley/publisher/author. I was not contacted, asked or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion .***
I did something with this book that I rarely do. I devoured it in two days, and then I sat with it. I usually have a good idea of where my review will go when I’ve finished, but this one confounded me. Not because it isn’t good – it is. Matt Durant’s story is compelling and emotional, the courtroom drama is gripping, and the whole thing is thoroughly thought-provoking. Nevertheless, I ended this one with mixed feelings. For one thing, I kept wondering when Matt and his mother were going to get angry. The more I read, the more I felt like some element was missing, and I finally figured out what it was. We see the fear, the sadness, the worry, the determination, but not once do either of them get mad. The way it’s handled, Matt is almost methodical through the whole process, and I just found him to be a little too saintly to be believed, and as a mother, I can’t fathom not getting angry over how things happen. Then we come to the conclusion, and I felt a little cheated. This was quite the journey with Matt, and I expected more than to be left hanging. Maybe we’re supposed to guess? hope? dream up? where it goes, but after all of that, I wanted closure. This is an emotionally draining journey (minus the anger), and I wanted to know what happened next. I understand that what would have to happen next would’ve been lengthy, but even an epilogue with some explanation would’ve been better than that closing line. In the end, Defense of An Other was a brilliant journey ruined by an abrupt and less than satisfying ending.