Hurricane Heaney

Hurricane Heaney is a fish-out-of-water memoir of a gay Indonesian man Ben who finds himself marrying into a salt-of-the-earth Irish family. Unlike many stories involving LGBTQ+ protagonists this is not a tragic tale about a traumatic coming out nor even about the novelty of living in a gay marriage in Ireland's catholic bible belt. It's about how landing in the loving arms of a large yet close family acts as an emotional mirror to Ben's early life in Indonesia giving him in fact a safe space to process what drove him out of one family in Indonesia and into the encircling airs of another in Ireland. Invoking the specific situation of a gay man crossing the world seeking - and finding - redemption through love it presents a unique and uplifting ideal of what gay strength looks like. Through tears songs rants and a lot of laughter the book explores in a humorous way universal truths about family values rituals obligations and their core foundation love.