Beard
A Memoir of a Marriage
Full of empathy, humor, and love, Kelly Foster Lundquist’s memoir Beard details the trajectory of her marriage to a gay man.
When Lundquist and Devin first met as counselors at a Christian summer camp, their connection was immediate. They married in their early twenties and navigated early adulthood together. Later, though, Devin confessed that he was attracted to men. Though the couple fought for their marriage to work, it ended a few years later, when neither could continue to deny and repress Devin’s sexual orientation.
While the book’s shifts between the present and past tense are sometimes jarring, Lundquist’s reflections upon her first marriage are astute, illuminated by the wisdom of hindsight. The text holds sympathetic space for the decisions and feelings that she made when younger, recognizing that it is easy to see warning signs and critique one’s own behavior in retrospect. That both she and Devin did their best with the knowledge they had at the time is a recurring theme. Indeed, the book’s reigning tone is one of empathy and care.
Lundquist’s academic background informs her perspective as well. She began pursuing a PhD in English literature during her marriage to Devin, and quotes from gender theorists and literary critics weave into the narrative, helping to chart her shifting perspective. Notes about how her relationship to her faith changed, and how her understandings of gender and sexual orientation broadened, because of her marriage and her studies play in. The prose includes flourishes like “cinematic portents” alongside direct, sparse language, capturing her emotional struggles with identity and selfhood well.
Beard is a loving memoir about personal discoveries and the acceptance of a husband’s coming out within a complicated marriage.
Reviewed by
Julia Dillman
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
