Tortured by his zealous father Gabriel moves to Cleveland Ohio to start a new life. Soon he learns that his presence despite giving order to those closest to him incites fear and hatred. As past and present collide Gabriel becomes the mirror that reflects the lives of the people surrounding him the spectacle that isn't as bad as the histories they want to escape completely.

Set against the backdrop of a city recovering from one of the worst race riots in history The Butterfly Lady is filled with pain encased in the blues. This stunning first novel wrestles with the horrors of love and the consequences of being black gay and male.

Advance praise for The Butterfly Lady:

In The Butterfly Lady Hoey clearly driven by love for his characters and a passion to understand their lives weaves a cocoon of community. Fearless in the tradition of Morrison he looks under beds and throws open closet doors to present truth ? drawing the reader in to the place where lives crash.
- Anton Nimblett?? author of Sections of an Orange

The Butterfly Lady riffs from the page in bursts and twists?? conflagrating image?? sound?? language and character in a