Nicolas Shumway’s novel The Education of Joshua Chastain: A Gay Mormon Memoir opens an essential window on the challenges facing a young religious gay man seeking to understand and embrace his sexuality in the late 1960s while continuing to be a man of faith.

Nicolas Shumway's The Education of Joshua Chastain is more than a coming-of-age novel; it is also a profoundly moving exploration of identity, faith, and resilience. Through Joshua's journey, readers gain insight into the complexities of growing up gay in a religious community and the struggles of reconciling sexuality and faith.

At first glance, The Education of Joshua Chastain might seem like a story rooted in the past since it unfolds within a Mormon community in the 1960s and early 1970s.  In short, Joshua’s coming-of-age and coming-out journey is framed by a world that might appear distant from our own. However, his struggles and the questions he wrestles with remain profoundly relevant today.

The following interview with Nicolas Shumway took place on December 31, 2023. The interviewer is Dale Rice. Rice spent thirty-five years as a professional journalist, including work as an education writer, lifestyle editor, city hall reporter, state capital bureau chief, business editor, restaurant food critic, and lifestyle editor. He currently teaches journalism at Texas A&M University.

One of the most frequent questions I receive about The Education of Joshua Chastain is whether the novel is autobiographical. The answer, like the novel itself, is complex. While certain episodes are drawn from my own experiences as a gay man raised in the Mormon Church, much of the story also borrows from the real experiences of other gay Mormons I have known. And, of course, a significant portion is purely fictional.

Nicolas Shumway's The Education of Joshua Chastain: A Gay Mormon Memoir explores faith, identity, and the challenges LGBTQ individuals face within conservative religious communities. This deeply moving coming-of-age story immerses readers in the life of a young man raised in a devout Mormon home during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Joshua's emotional journey, as he grapples with his sexuality, raises critical questions about faith, acceptance, and the power of self-discovery in a world that often denies his identity.

A fascinating truth about fiction is how deeply it allows us to know its characters—often far more intimately than real people. Consider Madame Bovary, the titular character of Flaubert’s 1856 novel. Through the insights fiction provides, we intimately understand her fantasies, frustrations, and the choices that lead to her undoing. Similarly, Shakespeare’s Macbeth reveals the corrosive effects of unchecked ambition, delving into psychological depths that no historical account of the actual Scottish king could match.

But what happens when fiction focuses on the lives and struggles of marginalized groups, such as LGBTQ+ individuals? The result is often a profound window into worlds that might otherwise remain unseen. LGBTQ+ fiction allows readers to empathize with its characters, challenges societal norms, and deepens our understanding of diverse human experiences.

Nicolas Shumway's new coming-of-age and coming-out novel, The Education of Joshua Chastain: A Gay Mormon Memoir raises an important question: who gets to tell LGBTQ+ stories? And perhaps more importantly, what stories do LGBTQ+ people get to say to themselves about themselves?