Changing Tracks

Tom Van Voorst A Dutch Businessman 45 Has Been Married For 20 Years To Ellen. The Father Of Two Sons He Finds Himself Yielding To His Latent Desires And Has Sex With A Man. Through Unexpected Complications He Feels Compelled To Come Out To His Wife Which Creates Even More Tension In The Couple'S Already Stale And Distant Relationship. During A Visit To San Francisco For A Meeting He Stays For A Few Days To Confront Two Major 1) The Offer Of A Promotion And The Opportunity To Stay There For One Year On A Try-Out Basis. 2) During A Side Trip To L. A. To Visit His Old Friend Ben He Meets And Falls In Love With A Young Man. Realizing That He Would Like To Follow His Instincts And Become A Part Of The Gay Scene But That Amsterdam Would Not Be The Place For A Double Life With Lies And Hidden Games Fears Of Being Caught And So Compromising His Family He Accepts The Offer And Moves To San Francisco. The Year Without A Care-Taking Wife Are Often Hard But He Finds Uplifting Support From His Closest Friend Ben Who Introduces Him To Many Of His Acquaintances Resulting In Relationships Of Various Value Different Nature And Diverse Durability. We Follow Tom'S Life And That Of The Van Voorst-Clan In Holland And The Usa. We Encounter A Crowd Of Characters Through Their Meeting With Tom Often Called Tommy (Representing The Two Unique Sides Of This Same Person) By Virtue Of Where And With Whom He Interacts. The Main Theme Of This Book Is The New Path Our Hero Has To Take (His So Called Changing Gears) In Order To Fulfill His Real Self. This He Can Only Achieve By Getting Rid Of The Stultifying Rules The Heavy Chains He Has Carried His Whole Life Or In Other Words The Restricting Corset Of Convention That He Hitherto Deemed As Essential To Fit Into The Acceptance-Game Of Life. Frans Boerlage September 2006