SuitabookDeposing Nathan
Zack Smedley
- Reading
- Read in stages if useful, pausing after changes between deposition, letters and remembered scenes. Discuss how each form affects trust, and check in after the violence or emotionally difficult revelations.
- Themes
- Truth, testimony and responsibility: Nate must give sworn evidence about the incident that left him stabbed and Cam in jail, while believing the real story is more complicated. The book appears to question whether formal testimony can contain the full truth of a relationship, rather than presenting the legal account as sufficient.
- Sexuality, faith and self-acceptance: The book addresses sexuality, faith and self-acceptance; the detail of how it is developed remains unclear. The framing supports a layered portrayal of conflict and possible self-acceptance, while showing that shame and faith are significant pressures rather than simple background details.
- Intimacy and violence: A close friendship develops physical intimacy and later ends in a stabbing, with the narrative alternating between relationship development and case details. The juxtaposition appears designed to make the relationship difficult to categorise as either solely romantic or solely violent, without making the harm itself acceptable.
- Worth knowing
- Consider whether the reader is comfortable with a stabbing and near-fatal incident, legal testimony, physical intimacy, internalised homophobia, Catholic guilt, questioning sexuality, family bereavement and emotionally painful relationship conflict.