In this compelling novel for grown-ups, Mae and Ari meet as university students at a queer bar in Leeds and form a lifetime friendship. Ari is flamboyant and outgoing, but never speaks about his family back in America. Mae has a string of short-term relationships, but has yet to find a special someone. Ari is her soulmate, albeit a platonic one, and the two of them vow that someday, they will have a child together.
Life takes each of them in different directions than they could have predicted, though, and author Lotte Jeffs (co-author of the terrific non-fiction title, The Queer Parent: Everything You Need To Know From Gay to Ze ) takes us perceptively and often amusingly through years of their lives, careers, and other relationships, good and bad. Yet the dream of starting a family is always with them. Can they make it work, despite the odds?
I won’t say more about the plot for fear of spoilers, but I will say that I loved this book. Mae and Ari are both original and memorable, yet have aspects of themselves that should resonate with many queer (and even non-queer) readers. Jeffs has a flair for description and pointed phrases that capture a mood. And it will be a rare reader, I think (particularly the queer ones), who won’t be rooting for Mae and Ari to find their queer joy, even if we’re not quite sure at first how they’ll get there.
A highly recommended story of queer family, found, chosen, and formed.
Content warning: A secondary character dies by suicide.
Both Mae and Ari are White.
