The Shattered Door M/M Religious Romance
DSP Publications
February 2, 2016
439
Review by Gloria Lakritz
Sr Reviewer and Review Chair for the Paranormal Romance Guild
Brandon Witt’s earliest book was The Shattered Door. I can see why this would be the hardest ‘to get right’ as this is in the third edition. It is not an auto-biography per se, but I think just from reading this (as well as his notes to the reader at the end of the book) much of The Shattered Door is a mirror into his life.
So here I sit thinking of how I was raised, so differently. You can say it was a generational thing, as I am at least 30 years older than this young man. It might have been a regional thing, as I did not have to go through the small minded, small town, holier than thou teachings of the devout, striking shame and fear into their children’s hearts in The Name of God. In my life God was forgiving and loving, not vengeful; accepting of our mistakes. We just had to be good people and do unto others.
Another possibility was being brought up in New York, a melting pot of all who came to America through Ellis Island. The City was alive with theater, dancers, designers who were gay. I had the opportunity of working with these smart, talented and gifted people on a daily basis producing styles of fashion for the rich and elite.
To now have friends talk about their lives as gay men and woman, being brought up in rural towns makes my heart rage for them. They are all so wounded.
The Shattered Door is a coming of age book, a very difficult read of a young man so trapped within himself, I feared he would never survive. Mr. Witt takes us on a ride of no return. Just when you think everything in Brooklyn Morrison’s life is okay the rug is pulled out from under him; but his stronger than life determination to go forward defies all odds. From the moment we met Jed, dancing in an elevator to the Beach Boys, I knew he could be Brooke’s salvation. This story is not an easy read, and if you read it through as I have, you will have gone through so many emotions, there will be too many to count.
It is a pleasure reading the tender moments and the laughter shared with Brooke and his husband Jed. Fun moments shared with his work kids, his adopted family and his almost brother Donnie. Horrible moments are spent with his mother Rose in the past as a child and now as a man. Yet the light within Brooke shines and he moves through a life that would have destroyed most. Brooklyn Morrison/Brandon Witt your strength and perseverance is a tribute to the man you have become! Thank you for sharing this story.