My Real Hue

Book excerpt: My Real Hue is an extraordinarily brave man’s quest to fully understand and accept himself despite his family obstructing his path. Though it spans five decades, the story is a poignant reminder that adult life is constantly and comprehensively affected by childhood. From the instant readers meet young Danny, his torturous relationship with his parents is evident. His dysfunctional family capitulates everything from challenges with coming to terms with his sexuality to a set of burgeoning neuroses. He discovers the only way to save himself is to sever ties with the very people who brought him into the world. The reader will accompany Danny on his painful journey toward shattering the age-old notions that “blood is thicker than water,” “family is everything,” “family comes first,” “Thou shalt honor thy father and mother,” “You’re going to regret severing your relationship with your parents when they are gone,” and the like. Readers in similar circumstances to Danny’s will be confronting a thought-provoking alternative to the self-destructive, self-loathing, guilt-ridden, depressing, dangerously unhealthy, stressful, and often suicidal existence associated with feeling inextricably attached and obligated to an abusive and dysfunctional family. Danny will ultimately demonstrate to the reader that the potential stigma of being estranged from one’s family may be well worth the tradeoff of being able to live out one’s life far more happily, peacefully, healthfully, and self-fulfilled than one could have ever imagined. To read a review of My Real Hue, please click here.