First published 2025
An accomplished actress sits across from a younger man in a Manhattan restaurant. She's preparing for an upcoming premiere, polished and successful. He's attractive but unsettling, young enough to be her son. Their lunch becomes something more complex than it first appears. The story splits into two versions of events, each revealing different truths about their connection. Is he her son? Her lover? Someone else entirely? She performs constantly, both on stage and in life, wearing masks that shift depending on her audience. He sees through some of these performances but creates his own. Their relationship forces questions about the roles people play for those closest to them. The competing narratives reshape everything the reader thinks they understand about identity, performance, and family bonds.
Genres: fiction, drama, literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Manhattan
Period: 21st-century
199 pages · Hardcover · Fern Press