Anthony Giardina – författare

The new novel from an acclaimed short story writer – a brilliantly observed portrait of a man teetering on the edge of abandoning his marriage for a homosexual affairAs a husband, Luca Carcera hides his emotions behind the safety of routine domesticity. With his spice jars and cookbooks stacked perfectly in the kitchen, he feels in some measure of control. He loves his wife, but is struggling to come to terms with the secret desires which lie beneath his role as a steady, suburban, middle-class husband. His parents, Lou and Dorothy, spent 14 years together before Lou abandoned his wife to set up home with a male friend and, perhaps unsurprisingly, young Luca grows up confused, not only about his own sexuality, but about the whole institution of marriage.Luca may well love his wife, but what guarantee has he that he will not walk out on her 14 years into their marriage, having finally woken up to his latent homosexuality?Acclaimed for his elegant stories on the flawed but necessary social bond that is marriage, Giardina once again proves himself an acutely sensitive writer – a brilliant observer of middle-class dreams, aspirations and compromises.

What if the perfect life isn't enough?Back in 1970s Winship, Massachusetts, Billy Mogavero was everything his friends wanted to be - tough, sexy, graceful, a leader of young men. After a reunion twenty years later, Timmy O'Kane watches his old best friend charm his way into career success and an ideal marriage, and begins to question his own cosy, sensible life.But then Billy and his pregnant wife are victims of a drive-by shooting, and Timmy is ensnared in a series of terrifying but seductive events that threatens to bring his life tumbling down around him...