First published 2021
Sammie Lucas watches her son Samson with constant wariness in their Florida house. The boy resists every attempt she makes to connect with him. She drives him places, cleans up after him, cooks his meals, and pushes him to complete his schoolwork. Meanwhile, her resentment grows toward Monika, her wife who radiates confidence but stays absent from daily parenting duties. Sammie doubts her own maternal instincts as Samson transforms from an unruly toddler into a hostile teenager. Her vision of creating an ideal queer family starts falling apart. The household descends into chaos as Samson's behavior spirals out of control. When his anger finally turns violent, Sammie faces a harsh truth about her part in the family's breakdown and accepts that some damage cannot be repaired.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, lgbt, queer, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Florida
304 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence, mental-illness