To Refrain From Embracing follows the trials facing a small family from the backdrop of an impoverished steel-working community in working-class Hamilton, Ontario, in the 1970’s,  After an attempted suicide leaves veteran Ted checked into a psychiatric hospital, his wife struggles with family finances and growing concern for the well-being of their young son while also rediscovering her Indigenous identity through encounters with a handsome steelworker. The son’s struggles with his nascent sexuality, lack of acceptance from his peers, and fears about his father’s mental health lead him to a friendship with a troubled teen.

Jeffrey Luscombe’s new novel is a dark and comedic tale of a family squeezed by personal and societal precepts of class, race, and sexuality.

Available from Lethe Press.

Jeffrey Luscombe was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, and has had his fiction published in many literary magazines including Zeugma Literary Journal, Filling Station Magazine and PinkPlayMags. In 2010 Jeffrey was shortlisted for the Prism International Fiction Prize. In 2013 he was shortlisted for the Kerry Schooley Award by the Hamilton Arts Council for his novel Shirts and Skins. He also contributes articles, interviews, and reviews to a number of international magazines. Jeffrey currently lives in Toronto, Canada with his husband.

 

 

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.