Full Description
Winner of the 2012 LAMBDA Literary Award for Best Lesbian Fiction and of the 2011 Rainbow Awards
Ismail Boxwala made the worst mistake of his life one summer morning twenty years ago: he forgot his baby daughter in the back seat of his car. After his daughter's tragic death, he struggles to continue living. A divorce, years of heavy drinking, and sex with strangers only leave him more alone and isolated.
But Ismail's story begins to change after he reluctantly befriends two women: Fatima, a young queer activist kicked out of her parents' home; and Celia, his grieving Portuguese-Canadian neighbour who lives just six metres away. A slow-simmering romance develops between Ismail and Celia. Meanwhile, dangers lead Fatima to his doorstep. Each makes complicated demands of him, ones he is uncertain he can meet.
Contents
Prologue: A Road Trip, A Road Trip!: Manhattan, 2007; Go For Broke: Bracknell, England 2005; Put Up Your Dukes & Write!: New York City, 1940s; Ragged & Ecstatic Joy: Denver, 1940s; A Plank Where All the Angels Dove Off: San Francisco, 1940s-1960s; Rough and Hard and Extreme: Mexico, 1950s-1960s; Not Akin to Lustful Thoughts: Europe and Africa, 1950s-1960s; The Perfect Ecstasy: Lowell, 1920s to Present; Golden Ash, Blissful Emptiness: New England, 1890s-1960s; It Was Pure, in My Heart: New Jersey and New York, 1920s-1990s; Canada Was My Bosom of God: Quebec, 1950s-1960s and Early Years; Down into the Darks: Southern United States, 1940s-1960s; Everything is Ecstasy: Central United States, 1940s-1990s; Epilogue -- Five Million of Stars: Quebec and Toronto; Index.