A gay medical student juggles the needs of his partner, family members, friends, and former lovers while trying to find his own path in Yeh’s sequel to A Boy at the Edge of the World (2018).

Daniel Garneau, the narrator, is in medical school, although readers rarely see that part of his life. His partner, David Gallucci, is a bicycle mechanic and a creative, thoughtful soul who comes from a family steeped in culture; his Italian Catholic mother, Isabella de Luca, is a well-known art critic and writer. The action kicks off when David’s estranged sibling, a trans man named Luke, shows up at the couple’s front door. David and Luke’s mother has no idea that one of her sons is gay and the other trans, although a family reunion is on the horizon. Meanwhile, Daniel is trying to integrate his seemingly stable relationship with David into a social life bursting with friends and several significant exes. Before David heads to Italy for two months on a family trip, the couple decides that their relationship will be “open” during that time—an idea that feels “weird” to Daniel. Yeh’s cosmopolitan and sexy novel is mainly plot-driven, but it gives the 20-something central couple enough nuance to make their relationships worth exploring. The narrative is brisk with occasionally abrupt scene shifts, but the characters are consistently appealing in their searches for love and purpose. Parties, rendezvous, and cabaret visits unfold in Toronto, although the Italian vacation might change everything for Daniel and David. The large, multiethnic, and sexually fluid cast of characters is emotionally generous with one another, and they grow and change in authentic ways. Daniel’s sensibility as he learns how relationships can morph and still hold is particularly well rendered. Some may find it tempting to compare the novel to Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series, but Yeh’s theme of “love and ridiculous gratitude” for this “entire ephemeral life” stands as its own beautiful creation.

A bighearted novel of yearning and human decency.

A gay young man ponders his future in Yeh’s novel.

Medical student Daniel is in a happy, loving relationship with David in Toronto, but he’s got the nagging sense that not everything is as it should be. For one thing, David’s brother wants him to be a sperm donor for him and his partner, which Daniel isn’t really on board with. In the background is Marcus, who Daniel dated before David and who is often on Daniel’s mind. As the months go by, Daniel starts to realize that he and David are forming a family, and that David has been doing the heavy lifting in their relationship; Daniel resolves to commit to the relationship and ask David to marry him. Of course, once Daniel makes this decision, Marcus reappears (“There he was: my ex-boyfriend in a trench coat and Ray-Bans, leaning against a glorious red convertible with cream-coloured bucket seats. I felt like Mia Sara summoned out of school by Ferris Bueller. It wasn’t a Ferrari 250GT, but it might as well have been”). Ultimately, Daniel has to decide what shape he wants his adult life to take, and whether his “happily ever after” is with David. The novel has a large cast of quirky characters, most of them artists. The narrative covers a year in the life of Daniel, who moves through a series of interesting events on his way to discovering who he is and what he wants; he attends a literary salon in which all of the readers are naked, consoles his peers about their messy love lives, graduates from medical school, fights with his best friend, endures his brother’s homophobic girlfriend, and becomes part of an art exhibit when nude photos of him are included in one of Marcus’ installations. The story is a fun trip through the lives of this eclectic group of friends, and the relationship between Daniel and David is equal parts raunchy and sweet. This is the third book in a trilogy, but it works fine as a standalone story.

A fun, funny look at gay life in Toronto.