Book Review: Fellow Travelers

Fellow Travelers by Henry Mallon

3.5/5 stars

Book 8 of 2024 was a gay historical fiction that goes by the name Fellow Travelers. One of my 2024 book goals is to broaden my reading horizons by reading less dirty, trashy romance and more thought-provoking novels.

So far, I’m doing good. I thought this book would be a good, in-between given that the genre is gay historical fiction romance. Two of my favorite things! (not the history part).

I picked this book because it was turned into a TV series that aired at the end of last year.

When I tell you the show ruined my life in the best way possible, I’m not lying. The series is split between the past and present, and it follows two characters, Tim and Hawkins, jumping between the 1950s and 1980s. Most of the book is set in Washington D.C. Hawk works in the State Department.

The series follows the government searching for communists, which led to gay people being targeted. The book and show specifically focus on Joseph McCarthy and his thoughts on communists and gay people. The show explores how people were forced to hide themselves and what that meant for their relationships.

The show was amazing. Tv lacks complex queer shows like this one. The show discussed so many different topics like religion and race, and the characters were diverse. The show discussed the AIDS epidemic and how it was (or wasn’t) handled by the government.

I think this show was important because while it focussed on a queer love story, it also discussed other queer plotlines. Most of the cast and the people working on the show are queer. Representation matters!!!

Because I loved the show so much, I chose to read the book that inspired it.

Now, as some of you may know, I’m incredibly critical when it comes to screen adaptations of books, like my review of the Red, White, and Royal Blue movie.

The main question I ask myself is were the changes necessary?

As soon as I started the book, I realized that the series used the book as a loose map and structure, but the writers took a lot of creative license. And if I’m being honest? They did a FABULOUS job taking this heavily focused history novel and turning it into a devastating romantic history show.

The three differences I want to discuss are the timeline, plot, and characters.

Timeline

The book takes place over four years from 1953-1957, with the prologue and epilogue being in 1991. This was the biggest change I noticed because the TV series spans over four decades. Though this change was massive, I think it worked well for the show.

By expanding the series timeline, we see Tim and Hawk’s relationship ebb and flow a lot more. This timeline allowed the writers to expand on the relationship. I think one of the reasons I liked this change was because I got to see so many pieces of their love story, while in the book, it was small snippets scattered through the story.

In the book, Hawk finds out that Tim died in the prologue. They hadn’t seen each other since the 50s.

In the show, Hawke finds out Tim is dying from AIDS, and then the rest of the series is their relationship over four decades. The series timeline strengthened their relationship and made Tim's dying more tragic.

The ending of the book was also so BORING compared to the show’s ending.

Plot

By changing the timeline, the plot ultimately changed. By taking us through the 60s and 70s in the show, the reader gets to see queer people throughout history. In the series, the show is very clearly about being queer, starting in the 50s, and how dangerous it was.

In the book, the only queer aspect was Tim and Hawk. The author of the book is gay, but he chose to focus on different political issues in the 50s, which I didn’t love.

The show did a great job detailing queer history and the crackdown on possible queer people in the government.

The show also focussed on the AIDS epidemic, which was not in the book. On one hand, I can understand why Mallon chose not to write about AIDs because an author should be allowed to write gay stories without focusing on trauma. However, the inclusion of AIDS in the show worked well because it fit into the spoke of queer history.

The show also had plotlines regarding black people in the 50s. This plot added so much more to the show because it ads a different scope. We’re able to see all the different aspects of history.

Characters

Since the timeline and plot changed, the characters were ultimately different in the books.

Without Tim and Hawk’s romance being the main focal point, their characters differed.

Hawk was even more emotionless than he was in the series because we didn’t get to see much of anything besides him being selfish.

In the series, he’s definitely a lying, manipulative asshole, but because it’s clear how much he loves Tim, you don’t hate him as much. The show also dives into Hawke’s family history, which is different from the book, which gives us a little insight into why he’s such a dick.

Tim is also different. Mallon really digs into Tim’s helplessness and devotion to Hawk, which feels less like a man in love and more like a kid with an obsession. I honestly hated this about the book because it didn’t feel like an epic love story.

The series was different. When I was watching it, Tim and Hawk were the most tragic and devastating men in love. Tim is still very clearly ready to give up anything for Hawk, but he has more of a backbone and doesn’t pine as much.

I understand why Mallon wrote them this way because I honestly don’t think he wanted them to be these star-crossed lovers. The show, however, dug into these characters until you were left crying.

Another big difference from the plot changes is that Tim and Hawk are the only gay characters. In the show, Mary Johnson is a lesbian. I loved her character in the book and series, but I think her queer storyline added so much more to her development and story.

She and Hawke have an interesting friendship in both, but I think making her a lesbian allowed her to have a deeper bond with Hawk in the show because of their shared experiences.

The journalist Marcus Hook in the show is based on the journalist Woodforde, in the book. However, Marcus is a black, gay man while Woodforde isn’t. By changing this character, the show included racial themes, which really strengthened the show. Black queer people faced a completely different kind of discrimination, and it would’ve been wrong to exclude that part of history in the show.

A brand new character in the show, Frankie Hines, is a drag queen. The show didn’t really discuss her gender specifically, but I’m pretty sure they identified as a man outside of drag, but their character was SO important.

Black trans women were the turning point of the LTBTQ+ Movement. Frankie’s character adds another element of history that gets left out. It would be wrong to tell a story about queer history without telling the experiences of black and black trans people.

These characters strengthened the show and made it less about two gay men in love and more about queer people navigating political Washington.

Overall

Overall, I liked the book. It was good, but not my cup of tea. It was too historical for me. If it was about queer history like the show, I would’ve enjoyed it more, but I honestly didn’t care about the war and communist storyline.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of gayness in the book, which is why I didn’t like it as much.

I wish there was more romance and sex because the show was so explicit, and I expected the book to be similar.

I give this book a 3.5/5 stars. I loved Mallon’s writing, but I was extremely bored.