by Joan Silber
First published 2022
Ethan, a young New York lawyer, learns his father has maintained a second family for years. A Thai wife and two children live in Queens, completely separate from Ethan's world. The discovery sends shockwaves through both households. Ethan's mother flees to work abroad for a year, returning transformed by her experiences. Meanwhile, Ethan's half brothers navigate their own struggles. One has fallen into petty crime that grows more serious. The other must travel to Bangkok to rescue him from legal trouble. Their mother continues living with the financial and emotional compromises she made long ago. Ethan finds himself entangled in his own romantic complications as the two families' lives begin to intersect. His mother eventually meets the other wife. The story expands to include a woman caring for her sick brother and his unreliable partner, plus a filmmaker whose childhood was spent in Nepal. The novel follows how people across three continents create their own versions of contentment using whatever resources they can gather.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, relationships, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Bangkok, Nepal, New York, Queens
Period: 21st-century
288 pages · Paperback · FABER AND FABER