The Listener: A Novel - Softcover

Rachel Basch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1681771225 ISBN 13: 9781681771229

Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2016

Synopsis

Malcolm Dowd is almost positive he recognizes the freshman who shows up for a session at his office in Baxter College s Center for Behavioral Health he just can t place her. When suddenly she stands, takes off her wig, and reveals herself as Noah, the young man Malcolm had been treating months earlier, it marks the start of a relationship that will change them both.

After losing his wife at a young age, Malcolm dedicated himself to giving his two daughters the stable, predictable childhood he never had. But now nothing is predictable not his young adult daughters, not himself, and certainly not Noah. Whether he s attending class or rehearsing for the campus musical, Noah finds he s often challenging everyone s definition of gender. During the course of one semester, Noah s and Malcolm s lives become entwined in ways neither could ever have imagined.

Told alternately from Malcolm s and Noah s perspectives The Listener explores the ways in which we conceal and reveal our identities. As truth after truth is exposed, characters are forced to reconsider themselves and reorder their lives, with few easy answers to be found for anyone. The Listener is, ultimately, about the power of human connection and the many shapes that love can take."

About this title

Review:

margins. You won t want it to end.--Rachel Basch writes with great insight and a big heart, imbuing her novel with both. --Ann Hood, bestselling author of The Obituary Writer

The Listener is a sharply observed exploration of identity and sexuality. Rachel Basch s engrossing novel captures the complexities of human relationships: both with ourselves and others. Fans of Richard Russo will find much to like in this book. --Michele Filgate, writer

The Listener unfolds like a map, leading us with remarkable clarity through landscapes we thought we knew into the wild territories at the heart of any American family. Rachel Basch uncovers such vital truths about parents, children, lovers, friends all the people we love and tremble for that you ll want to put this novel in the hands of everyone you meet and say, Read it now. --Nalini Jones, author of 'What You Call Winter'"

About the Author:

Rachel Basch is the author of two previous novels: The Passion of Reverend Nash (named one of the five best novels of 2003 by The Christian Science Monitor) and Degrees of Love. Basch has reviewed books for The Washington Post Book World, and her nonfiction has appeared in n+1, Parenting, and The Huffington Post. Basch was a 2011 MacDowell Colony Fellow. She received the William Van Wert Memorial Fiction Award for an excerpt from The Listener. She currently teaches in Fairfield University s MFA Program and in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Wesleyan University. She lives in Connecticut.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1681771225
• ISBN 13: 9781681771229
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336