bully It is Emme Dun’s first novel with which she made a grand entrance. This true-to-life gay / lesbian legal thriller will reveal the darkest tones of the American justice system.

Although this book is about the legal system, the LGBT community and its struggles … although this book is about many things, the central theme is the sacred bond between a child and a mother. Emme Dun presents two mirrored stories of custody lawsuits born out of revenge. Wendy White and Jennifer Dolan’s children are at risk of being snatched from their spiteful exes. This is the only rope that binds these completely different people who live in their separate worlds. Wendy White is a lesbian vet who gave up the idea of ​​finding true love again and settled (without comfort) for just a breeze of romance. He gave birth with the help of artificial insemination to his Abigail, whom he swore to protect as soon as he held the baby in his arms. But you will soon discover that this promise will be more difficult to fulfill than you ever imagined. On the other hand, Jennifer serves to present the same theme set in a heterosexual relationship. However, both families can be characterized as unconventional. Furthermore, in both cases a battle is fought between the biological father and the “heart”. If you are curious about what exactly a “heart parent” is, Patricia Brown, one of the characters, may shed some light: it is “the other parent, not the biological parent, but the one who has been there the whole time nurturing and supporting the child “.

Emme Dun is professionally acquired with the American justice system and shares her years of legal insight and knowledge. The abuse of power is challenged with the help of Pat Brown and Joanna Crawford. While this is not always nested in bad intentions, it invariably leads to unfortunate results and innocent people getting hurt. Furthermore, the leakage of personal matters into our professional lives can have disastrous consequences. While it is difficult to separate subjectivity from objectivity and the personal from the professional, and some overlap is inevitable, it is important not to lose sight of the best interests of the child. There is a fine line between the natural tendency to make up for past mistakes and shortcomings and the need to overcompensate.

A generous span of time is covered by bullyAs the journey will begin in the 1980s, a period marked by the AIDS epidemic, and will end in the present. To help you locate yourself on time, Emme Dun points out some important events, including 9/11. These only serve as a guide, however, and I would have preferred such high-profile events or periods (especially the ’80s) received more attention, even at the risk of getting a bit out of focus on the main characters.

I must warn readers that the first half of the book may seem somewhat slow. The separate narrative chains are attached only in the middle of the novel, so quite a few pages are needed until all the characters converge. But once they do, the action really picks up and keeps your heart racing until the very end. However, perhaps the greatest achievement of bully he is conveying to the reader the sense of paralyzing helplessness that some characters feel.

In short, it is a novel about an attempt to secularize the bond between mother and child that ends in a “Roar”.