Pat Faunce is a faltering romantic, a former poetry major who now writes textbooks. A decade into his relationship with Stu, an airline pilot from a fraught Jewish family, he fears he's losing Stu to other men - and losing himself in their “no rules” arrangement. Yearning for a baby and a deeper commitment, he pressures Stu to move from to the cottage where Pat spent boyhood summers.
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Summary
Pat Faunce is a faltering romantic, a former poetry major who now writes textbooks. A decade into his relationship with Stu, an airline pilot from a fraught Jewish family, he fears he's losing Stu to other men - and losing himself in their “no rules” arrangement. Yearning for a baby and a deeper commitment, he pressures Stu to move from to the cottage where Pat spent boyhood summers.
Description
Having a baby to save a marriageit's the oldest of clichés. But what if the marriage at risk is a gay one, and having a baby involves a surrogate mother?
Pat Faunce is a faltering romantic, a former poetry major who now writes textbooks. A decade into his relationship with Stu, an airline pilot from a fraught Jewish family, he fears he's losing Stu to other menand losing himself in their ""no rules"" arrangement. Yearning for a baby and a deeper commitment, he pressures Stu to move from Manhattan to Cape Cod, to the cottage where Pat spent boyhood summers.
As they struggle to adjust to their new life, they enlist a surrogate: Debora, a charismatic Brazilian immigrant, married to Danny, an American carpenter. Gradually, Pat and Debora bond, drawn together by the logistics of getting pregnant and away from their spouses. Pat gets caught between loyaltiesto Stu and his family, to Debora, to his own potent desiresand wonders: is he fit to be a father?
In one of the first novels to explore the experience of gay men seeking a child through surrogacy, Michael Lowenthal writes passionately about marriages and mistakes, loyalty and betrayal, and about how our drive to create families can complicate the ones we already have. The Paternity Test is a provocative look at the new ""family values.
Critic Reviews
“"So many different relationships are put to the test in Michael Lowenthal's thought-provoking novel--not only the bond at the heart of the book between two gay men and the Brazilian woman acting as their surrogate mother, but also the bond between husbands and wives, between siblings, between aging parents and their adult children. The Paternity Test is a complex, emotionally satisfying, and thoroughly engaging story."--Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers and Little Children”
A searingly honest portrait of love under fire, a fearless exploration of what it means to be an adult, a couple, a family. It is a story for our time."" - Jennifer Haigh, author of Faith
""So many different relationships are put to the test in Michael Lowenthal's thought-provoking novelnot only the bond at the heart of the book between two gay men and the Brazilian woman acting as their surrogate mother, but also the bond between husband It's a page-turner thanks to its realistic characters and a situation that might hit close to home for some."" - The Advocate
""Never in a hurry, The Paternity Test starts out at a slow and gentle trot but works up to [a] brisk pace and, in time, to a can't-look-away ending that will leave readers feeling both shaken and pensive."" - The Gay and Lesbian Review
About the Author
Michael Lowenthal is author of three previous novels: The Same Embrace, Avoidance, and Charity Girl, which was a New York Times Book Review ""Editors' Choice"" title, a Washington Post ""Top Fiction of 2007"" selection, and a Book Sense Top Twenty Pick. He is a core faculty member in Lesley University's MFA program in creative writing. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
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