Stolen Heart tells the story of a young man struggling with love, life and sexuality. As a teenager, Elliott Denison struggled with his sexual identity. Growing up in a religious family with overly protective and strict parents was difficult. At school, Elliott found himself becoming the target of bullies. The only positive thing for Elliott was his friendship with Chad. His life changed when he entered university. One Saturday night, after leaving a gay bar, Elliott was attacked by a homophobe who left him unconscious on the sidewalk. Lucky for him, someone spotted him and called the police.
A few years later, Elliott fled to his cottage to get away from the city, the noise and reconnect with tranquility. That’s when he meets the handsome and endearing Chase Harrison, and things start to improve. But an anonymous person has other plans. Chase and Elliott’s love for one another grew stronger. Then a car accident sent Chase to the hospital with a fractured skull. A few months after their wedding, Chase and Elliott took the dogs for their nightly walk. They stopped at their usual place, then a gunshot whistled by Elliott, and Chase collapsed onto the road holding his abdomen.
Stolen Heart tells the story of a young man struggling with love, life and sexuality. As a teenager, Elliott Denison struggled with his sexual identity. Growing up in a religious family with overly protective and strict parents was difficult. At school, Elliott found himself becoming the target of bullies. The only positive thing for Elliott was his friendship with Chad. His life changed when he entered university. One Saturday night, after leaving a gay bar, Elliott was attacked by a homophobe who left him unconscious on the sidewalk. Lucky for him, someone spotted him and called the police.
A few years later, Elliott fled to his cottage to get away from the city, the noise and reconnect with tranquility. That’s when he meets the handsome and endearing Chase Harrison, and things start to improve. But an anonymous person has other plans. Chase and Elliott’s love for one another grew stronger. Then a car accident sent Chase to the hospital with a fractured skull. A few months after their wedding, Chase and Elliott took the dogs for their nightly walk. They stopped at their usual place, then a gunshot whistled by Elliott, and Chase collapsed onto the road holding his abdomen.
NO ONE KNOWS HOW it was. As an only child
raised by strict Christian parents, I never had a choice
when it came to religion. We were a perfect family, a
great example in the church and its selfless servants, or so
people would say.
There were no messaging friends during school nights,
no going out on weekdays, no television, no gaming, and
the computer was strictly for homework. This is how strict
they were. I know the rules existed because they cared,
but I wished for more freedom—even just a tiny bit.
Growing up was honestly a pain for me. From spankings
to punishments to being sent to the corner, I received
them all as a kid. My academic performance needed to
be straight A’s and nothing less. To satisfy my parents’
demands, I needed to maintain a 97 percent average all
year. Needless to say that my 80 percent resulted in me
being yelled at, slapped, and grounded. At a young age, I
seriously contemplated running away. But where do you
go when you live in Stanstead, and you’re ten years old
and small for your age? I was a premature baby. Most of
the kids around my age were taller than me. Although I
grew up with no health issues, I stood out from my classmates
due to my lower-than-average height and weight—
a lingering gift to the premature.
My father’s dream of becoming a preacher was stomped
by growing up poor. Instead, he preached the Good Lord’s
word to us every night for as long as I can remember. On
Sundays, it was church, no matter what the weather was.
My father said grace at every meal, and I was taught Bible
stories and had to memorize hymns and other Christian
songs. When I was allowed to watch television, my parents
needed to approve the content. It was inevitably a show
with a Christian message.
I was sheltered from the outside world until I was six
years old when I started school. My interactions with the
other kids at school first clued me to how abnormal my
home life was. I was always an outsider because I could
not relate to peers whose every move was not measured
against Biblical standards. Even my classmates who went
to church had more worldly knowledge than I.
In sixth grade, I was still firmly under my parents’
strict control. Now that I was getting older, the differences
between my classmates and me were even more apparent.
I wanted to make friends, but I was rarely allowed to
socialize with anyone outside of school. Much of my time
was spent attending church youth-group events, which
were the only activities my parents would always agree to
me attending.
I always felt that my mom only had me out of obligation
and not because she wanted me. As much as she
wanted to show her fellow church members what a good
Christian mother she was, she ultimately didn’t want me
around all the time. Her coldness towards me is one of the
most painful experiences I had to deal with in my life.
Because of this, I struggled with depression and experimented
with self-harm. When my parents found out, they
treated me like a monster.
Stolen Heart takes the reader on Elliot’s entire journey of childhood to manhood, with the focus being his gay identity. We see his sense of self as a closeted, timid teenager full of shame transform to his adult years as a man of pride, who still struggles chiefly because of the backwards opinions of those around him. As the focus of the story is on hate crime, LGBTQ+ rights and relationships, there are a few trigger warnings surrounding suicidal ideation, violence and graphic, sexual content that I feel must be highlighted before reading the novel.
Throughout the novel, there is an argument to be made that the story barely scratches the surface of Elliot’s life due to the lightning-quick pacing. For example, chapter headings include ‘Two Years Later’ and ‘Four Years Later’, which I feel makes the story become a little rushed. Experiencing Elliot’s life with him becomes confusing and more difficult to relate to because of the speed in which we witness him at his different ages. Personally, I would have preferred a more subtly woven narrative that gives the reader more of a deep dive into Elliot’s personal thoughts and feelings, rather than the briefer descriptions that we are presented with.
Although the novel also occasionally lacks subtly in terms of dialogue, for example with the staple religious insult of gay people as ‘sinners’, this is also a clever reflection of how language that seems so outdated is still relevant in the present day. Therefore, terminology like this is included to show how out of touch ‘religious nuts’ are in comparison to peaceful believers of religion. Daniels beautifully lays bare the hypocrisy of extreme religion, and this is shown through Elliot’s realisation that ‘for the first time, I saw how tightly their lives revolved around their interpretation of the bible. It destroyed our family, the very opposite of what the bible should do’. However, the story is in no way anti-Christianity; it represents learning to become a more accepting and tolerant person to be a journey that can be hard to undertake, but is ultimately very rewarding. There is a very real and raw feel to Stolen Heart in the way that it displays both positive and negative responses to living ones’ truth, but at the heart of the novel is the warmness of acceptance, hope and celebration.
I would recommend this book to avid readers of LGBTQ+ fiction, and beyond. Its message is heart-warming and important, and showcases a voice that needs to be heard in order to enact necessary change.