Mark nodded. “And you should take Hugo. Get some sea air in his lungs. Get shat on by some seagulls.”
“Bloody seagulls.”
“Sandy beaches, open spaces. Who needs shit like that?”
“Nobody,” I agreed. “Fucking nobody.”
― Sophia Soames, Skin and Bones
The quote above is the only one I highlighted while reading. And it perfectly encapsulates why I adore Sophia Soames’s writing. This is the third Soames book I’ve read in the past six months, and the second one I have read this year.
Skin and Bones takes place in the same setting as Taste, and picks up shortly afterward. While Taste focused on the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story between Finn (the uptight hotel general manager) and Mark (the loosey-goosey emotionally extroverted food and beverage manager), Skin and Bones focuses on Ben (Mark’s closest friend and platonic life partner) and Hugo (the new-ish concierge).
Ben is a brilliant chef living with brain and nerve damage sustained in a severe accident when he was a teenager. Attending culinary school helped him find his life’s purpose, and it is also where he met Mark. Hugo is more difficult to sum up. He lives with his boyfriend, who cheats on him and abuses him. They have been together for over a decade, and Hugo hates himself and blames himself for not being strong enough to leave. He also believes that he deserves the abuse, which his boyfriend Lewis uses as an excuse to continue to torture him. On top of this, Hugo has suffered from disordered eating since he was a teen and he has OCD tendencies.
Whew….
Hugo and Ben come to know one another because of proximity. When Hugo escapes a brutal assault, Ben is the one who helps him. Things do not go smoothly. Even though Hugo is out of his apartment, he is severely malnourished and is suffering from injuries sustained during the incident. Through alternating POVs, we follow Ben as he tries to make sense of his feelings for Hugo, even though he has never felt this sort of affection for anyone besides Mark. Hugo blames himself for his situation, and it takes the support of Ben, Mark, Finn, and the greater support network, plus Hugo’s family, to help him deal with his trauma and forgive himself enough to start to take back his life and create a new, healthier, and more sustainable “normal.” I’m trying to choose my words carefully because Hugo has experienced physical and emotional abuse for years. I’m not sure he will ever feel “normal.” But in this story at least, he does start to find strength and love for himself, as well the courage to allow others to help him. He has no reason to trust anyone, and it takes many successes and failures before he finally starts to feel safe – in his home, in his skin, and in his mind.
Ben is in love with Hugo and doesn’t realize it until it is pointed out by multiple people that perhaps his feelings are stronger than his general need to help his friends. Ben also has crushing self-doubt, part of which is because he is so emotionally dependent on Mark to help get him through rough days when his brain and his hands won’t cooperate. Although Ben frequently admits he has no idea how to help Hugo, he remains as long as he’s wanted, trying whatever he can to support the other man. There are many awkward situations. Ben is blunt to a fault and Hugo is defensive and cruel. Despite this, they are better together than apart.
The softness between these two is SO SOFT! Ah, it melts my hard little heart every time Hugo accepts Ben’s kindness and Ben reacts like a labrador retriever on meth when Hugo smiles at him.
I read this book on the day it was released and was thrilled to revisit the Clouds Westminster Hotel and my favorites Mark, Finn, and Mabel. However, this book is different from Taste as it is not light at all. VERY BAD THINGS HAPPEN. Be warned that there is rape, other physical assault, gaslighting, verbal abuse, a former partner with substance abuse issues, detailed descriptions of disordered eating, and descriptions of a past accident that left one of the characters permanently disabled.
In summary, if you are up for it, I endorse this book. But please be gentle with yourself.
