What Ever Happened To Jan Phillips?
This is what a friend had to say and it's something that would really upset me, too:"No, what made me so angry was the "loving" relationship between Tim and Jan. The idea of an older man buying and grooming younger man for the better and brighter future isn't a new one. The buying though in this book was literal and the grooming consisted of sexual and psychological abuse. We were told Tim saw Jan as his opportunity of atonement. He did it by reenacting his own abuse with Jan as his victim. The fact that Jan started "loving" the man could be attributed to his confusion, could be seen as a consequence of abandonment and abuse. The fact that everyone else was all right with what was going on made me mad beyond words. They were "people of the world". In that world it is all right to have a living, breathing being as your sex doll and a puppet for your goals. The excuses other characters made for Tim made me even madder (tell-not-show writing in these sections of the story made it impossible to even attempt having any sort of compassion for Tim). I'm sorry, but I can't see the beautiful clothes, traveling and education as a counterbalance to rape. I am glad that author didn't subject us to full-blown, explicit sex scenes, because that would be unbearable. At the end of the story, I had a terrible vision of Jan's future in which he "grooms" another 18 year old boy."