Jimmy, Mrs Fisher and Me
Eric Bishop-Potter
Simon is a young man on the crux of adulthood, faced with the fact that his half-brother is going blind. Simon loves Jimmy in a unique way, and he shows that love in a unique manner. Simon wants to take Jimmy to see the Grand Canyon (a big step for someone living in London) and there are few ways he can make enough money to do that. This novel asks what you would be willing to do for someone you love – can you expose yourself and turn tricks?
I don’t always identify with a gay male main character, but in this case I did. I couldn’t see anything wrong with his obsession with his penis, and it came across as a natural part of his character. I even tolerated quite well his rather strange way of thinking.
This book struck me as amazing, and I wasn’t even in a chapter before I emailed the author to tell him it was fantastic. But the problem was eventually that the end of the novel was already given away by reading the blurb! I hardly felt a moment of suspense when I should have been anxious.
The author said that there weren’t any gratuitous sex scenes, which almost seemed impossible. but it was just as he said! The sex scenes really fit in with the character, and I wasn’t disgusted reading them. And true to his word, they had plenty of humour and Simon’s narration was just perfect.
Finally, I could literally see the characters coming out of the pages. The scenery was the least important thing, the characters were what made it work. I could see Jimmy in his dancing gear, and Simon in his YaYa shirt. Not to mention the old lady in the kitchen! All of them got some back story, but I could have happily read more.
I wouldn’t call this a reread, but I’m going to give it 4 stars, and strongly suggest to the author that he change the blurb!
