Closeted

Closeted is the posthumous novel of Chelsie Hubert, a determined woman who died too young, her body taken by rare sickness and disease. Her first and final known work might best be described as tragic erotica. It offers a tale of cruel romance reminiscent of Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, although its motif of unrequited lust is altogether unrestrained. The coming-of-age struggle and search for identity on display within its pages is almost Shakespearean in nature. Its conflict is centered around social breakdown, its central figure also fighting-in their own way-to be virtuous, only to await their inevitable downfall and dire end. The painstaking detail in which the internal crises and inner workings of its protagonist are described equally resembles the existentialism of a Dostoevsky or Kierkegaard, yet its content is far more disturbing, its forbidden themes wholly modern. Its harsh portrayals of self-discovery spill from its sentences and paragraphs like the heartbreaking ordeals of a Bront classic but with a present-day twist. It is a quintessential read for those who see beauty in the dark side of life. Those with a penchant for the meaningfully deviant or perverse may find their curiosity satiated by its pages. Pessimists and cynics are welcome to its content.