Stray

Thirty-year-old Kent McKutcheon has come to Atlanta with little ambition beyond his earnest desire to grow up and be a good person.  But after a year of contented, stable existence with his Mennonite wife, Maggie, a defense attorney with a passion for social justice, Kent cannot quiet his longing for Paul, the lover who abandoned him three years before. When an accidental meeting revives their affair, the infatuation they’ve kept private soon threatens to destroy the public persona each man has created.

Paul — a talented acting student — is unhappily bound to an older, ailing college professor and is slowly growing weary of the excesses of gay nightlife. A former wild child, he now craves the sense of family and stability that Kent and Maggie appear to share. Frustrated with Kent’s guilt-ridden angst and repeated efforts to end their relationship, and eager to find the love and comfort which seem otherwise unavailable in his world, Paul pushes closer to Kent’s marriage, ultimately developing a fixation on Maggie.

In a single night that slips out of control, the volatile mix of emotions leads to murder, and all three characters are suddenly more involved with each other’s lives than they could have foreseen. And none can hope to escape unscathed.

A musician is torn between his perfect wife and a young actor in an unconventional, inescapable love triangle.

Thirty-year-old Kent McKutcheon has come to Atlanta with little ambition beyond his earnest desire to grow up and be a good person.  But after a year of contented, stable existence with his Mennonite wife, Maggie, a defense attorney with a passion for social justice, Kent cannot quiet his longing for Paul, the lover who abandoned him three years before. When an accidental meeting revives their affair, the infatuation they’ve kept private soon threatens to destroy the public persona each man has created.

Paul — a talented acting student — is unhappily bound to an older, ailing college professor and is slowly growing weary of the excesses of gay nightlife. A former wild child, he now craves the sense of family and stability that Kent and Maggie appear to share. Frustrated with Kent’s guilt-ridden angst and repeated efforts to end their relationship, and eager to find the love and comfort which seem otherwise unavailable in his world, Paul pushes closer to Kent’s marriage, ultimately developing a fixation on Maggie.

In a single night that slips out of control, the volatile mix of emotions leads to murder, and all three characters are suddenly more involved with each other’s lives than they could have foreseen. And none can hope to escape unscathed.

Publishers Weekly

Short story writer Joseph's first novel begins with a weekend tryst in Florida in which barely-out-of-college Paul Foster wants his lover, Kent McKutcheon (who is nearly a decade older and married), to acknowledge his feelings and homosexuality. Kent, however, is annoyed with Paul for pressuring him and with himself for his infidelity. The feelings fester as, back in Atlanta where both men live, Paul returns to his cancer-stricken former professor and jealous sugar daddy, Bernard Falk, while Kent goes home to his saintlike Mennonite public defender wife, Maggie. Kent and Paul continue their affair, and Paul, wanting to get closer to Kent, befriends Maggie. After an awkward dinner for three at Kent and Maggie's, Kent, furious with Paul, reveals their relationship to Bernard, which provokes a violent confrontation between Paul and Bernard. The next day, Bernard is found murdered and Paul is the main suspect. Maggie, who has an inexplicable crush on Paul, takes him on as a client. Unfortunately, the murder mystery plot lacks urgency, and Joseph's portrayal of homosexuality hinges on the bedroom, while homophobes cops, especially rarely rise above stereotype. The aftermath of the imploding love triangle may surprise. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Sheri Joseph’s short story collection, Bear Me Safely Over, was a Book Sense 76 selection and was published in England, France, and Italy. Her short fiction has appeared in The Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Atlanta where she teaches at Georgia State University and serves as fiction editor of Five Points. Stray is her first novel.