
The Paternity Test
A Novel
Michael Lowenthal(Author)
University of Wisconsin Press
Published on 30. June 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
284 pages
978-0-299-29004-7 (ISBN)
Description
Having a baby to save a marriage?it's the oldest of cliches. 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 men?and 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 loyalties?to Stu and his family, to Debora, to his own potent desires?and 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.
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 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 loyalties?to Stu and his family, to Debora, to his own potent desires?and 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.
Reviews / Votes
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 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 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
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Wisconsin
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
330 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-299-29004-7 (9780299290047)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
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.