Seattle, 1983. Frightened by the growing epidemic that has stricken his friends, Jeff flees New York for the Pacific Northwest, only to realize AIDS has a foothold in his new home. As he distracts himself with alcohol and one-night stands, Jeff meets Henry, a younger man with a weakness for heroin. Despite the jarring contrasts in their personalities and backgrounds, the two are drawn enexorably together. But as their love develops, so do numerous complications. In an effort to halt their freefall into addiction, Jeff and Henry move in with Nan, a middle-aged divorcee who has turned her home into a sanctuary for gay men in crisis. The Rise and Fall of the Yellow House revisits the early years of AIDS in the Northwest with vivid detail, unrelenting honesty and a profound compassion for a generation lost to the plague.
The Rise and Fall of the Yellow House
“Although life is curious and strange things happen, The Rise and Fall of the Yellow House isn’t a fairy tale. John Whittier Treat has written a dark and honest account about the beginning of the AIDS era. Since all kinds of people experience problems with loneliness, alcoholism, drugs, and terminal disease this provocative book should easily appeal to everyone.”
~ Portland Book Review
“The book is written well and has a tight narrative. There are elements of magical realism and light here, but there is also an inescapable darkness that makes one wonder how anyone made it out of the 20th Century alive.”
~ San Francisco Book Review
“Sometimes it’s hard to relive the past, and the best fiction helps guide us through both personal and collective memories. The Rise and Fall of the Yellow House does just this, and leaves us both moved by the struggles of the characters and hopeful about a possible future.”
~ Dennis Altman, author of The End of the Homosexual?