Jens Laursen-Schmidt

Amongst Fools and Fundamentalists Jens Laursen-Schmidt

Mathias Bastholm has never felt close to his family. His father, a former pastor, is dead after throwing himself from the church belltower, and his widowed mother is now an alcoholic, threatening to disown her son for coming out as gay. A prospective ear, nose, and throat doctor, Mathias simply wants to get on with his specialist training and marry his boyfriend, Kamal, as the two share a passionate connection that transcends their different cultural backgrounds. However, just as the couple settle into a routine, establishing the foundations of their relationship while sharing a home and working at the same hospital in rural West Jutland, their lives are upended by tragedy. Although Mathias has reconciled himself to his mother's estrangement, he and Kamal now find themselves building a different kind of family, forced to come to terms with a completely new plan for their future together. But every marriage has its obstacles. Kamal, an Iranian immigrant still struggling with the Danish language, faces questions about his own identity, including how to reconcile his faith with his husband's disdain for religion. Meanwhile, Mathias wrestles not only with conflicting emotions about his family but also with romantic temptations that could shake his relationship with Kamal. In turns philosophical, absurdist, and romantic, Amongst Fools and Fundamentalists explores the meanings of family and love in a changing world.