The Guncle Abroad, Steven Rowley
The Guncle Abroad, Steven Rowley
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

The Guncle Abroad

Author: Steven Rowley

Narrator: Steven Rowley

Unabridged: 9 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 05/21/2024

Categories: Fiction, Family Life, Lgbtq+


Synopsis

AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER

An Indie Next Pick

Patrick O'Hara is called back to his guncle duties . . . This time for a big family wedding in Italy.

Patrick O’Hara is back. It’s been five years since his summer as his niece Maisie and nephew Grant’s caretaker after their mother’s passing. The kids are back in Connecticut with their dad, and Patrick has relocated to New York to remain close by and relaunch his dormant acting career. After the run of his second successful sit-com comes to a close, Patrick feels on top of the world . . . professionally. But some things have had to take a back seat. Looking down both barrels at fifty, Patrick is single again after breaking things off with Emory. But at least he has a family to lean on. Until that family needs to again lean on him.

When Patrick's brother, Greg, announces he’s getting remarried in Italy, Maisie and Grant are not thrilled. Patrick feels drawn to take the two back under his wing. As they travel through Europe on their way to the wedding, Patrick tries his best to help them understand love, much as he once helped them comprehend grief. But when they arrive in Italy, Patrick is overextended managing a groom with cold feet; his sister, Clara, flirting with guests left and right; a growing rivalry with the kids’ charming soon-to-be-launt (lesbian aunt), and two moody young teens trying to adjust to a new normal, all culminating in a disastrous rehearsal dinner.

Can Patrick save the day? Will teaching the kids about love help him repair his own love life? Can the change of scenery help Patrick come to terms with finally growing up? Gracing the page with his signature blend of humor and heart, Steven Rowley charms with a beloved story about the complicated bonds of family, love, and what it takes to rediscover yourself, even at the ripe age of fifty.

About The Author

Steven Rowley is the New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book; The Editor, an NPR Best Book of the Year; The Guncle, winner of the twenty-second Thurber Prize for American Humor and Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for Novel of the Year; and The Celebrants, a Today Show Read with Jenna book club pick. His fiction has been translated into twenty languages. He resides in Palm Springs, California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer

Team Guncle is back for good! As soon as I finished, I couldn't help but scream for another sequel! It felt like reconnecting with long-time friends, and I must emphasize one thing: Witty banter and catchy dialogues are my guilty pleasures. Steven Rowley delivered more of them, as good as the banter......more

Goodreads review by Marieke

I don’t want to feel this way. I imagined being delighted and laughing out loud and so happy after reading this sequel. But even though I liked the story to a certain extent, it was not the fantastic blast I was expecting.     The Guncle was one of my favorite 2021 reads. I loved Patrick, Maisie, and......more

Goodreads review by Mai

Pride Month "I just think if I had kids, I would want them to be happy. At all costs. I'd want them to find their happiness. I was delighted to be thrown back into Patrick's world. He teaches his niece and nephew about love and grief with grace. Sometimes he goes too far, but remember, he's only h......more


Quotes

As Seen on The Today Show 
Featured on Zibby Owen’s Summer Reading List

One of The Nerd Daily’s Most Anticipated Books of 2024

One of Scary Mommy’s Most Anticipated Books of 2024
One of Electric Hit’s The Best Books of Spring 2024
One of Brit & Co’s Essential LGBTQ+ Books 
One of Electric Lit’s Must-Read Queer Books for 2024

One of Writer’s Digest’s Notable LGBTQ+ Books
One of Literary Lifestyle’s Best LGBTQ+ Books
One of Book Riot’s Best LGBTQ+ Beach Reads of 2024
One of Parade’s Best New LGBTQ+ Books

"The wildly witty, tenderhearted balm this year calls for." —Pride Source
 
"The Guncle Abroad explores family, love and the act of rediscovering yourself, no matter how old you are." —People Magazine

"Patrick O’Hara is back for another adventure with his beloved niece and nephew. This time, they’re traveling to Italy ahead of his brother’s wedding. And like its predecessor, Steven Rowley’s sequel is a heartfelt and funny tale of grief, joy and self-discovery." —E News

"Few authors possess the infectious mix of light- and heavy-heartedness that makes every Steven Rowley novel an experience; his gift is to make the reader laugh out loud one minute and clutch their chest the next. . . . Rowley returns to the world of the eponymous gay uncle of 2021’s The Guncle, this time sending sitcom star Patrick to Lake Como for his brother’s wedding." —Electric Lit

"Hilarious and heartwarming." —Brit & Co

"Rowley doesn’t just make readers laugh . . . . Bring tissues, that’s all you need to know." —Dallas Voice

"All the ingredients you have come to expect from a Steven Rowley novel are here (and elevated!). This story on the complicated bond of family is infused with so much heart and humor that it will have you cracking up with laughter on one page and wiping a tear away on the next. Reading a Steven Rowley novel always makes me appreciate being alive with the urge to call up my friends and family and say, ‘I love you!’" —Nantucket Magazine

"The Guncle Abroad is best for a beach, bench, or backyard." —Salt Lake Magazine

"Maisie, Grant, and GUP, their Gay Uncle Patrick, return in Rowley’s funny, heartfelt sequel to The Guncle. . . . This follow-up has a humor and affection for the characters in a story with just the right amount of domestic tension but will still be a balm to readers." —Library Journal

"Rowley’s cunning sequel is as much travelogue as uplifting love story, with happy endings all around." —Booklist

"The wise-cracking and wisdom-dropping protagonist of The Guncle returns for more adventures in Rowley’s diverting sequel . . . The author’s fans will gobble this up." —Publishers Weekly

"Few authors possess the infectious mix of light- and heavy-heartedness that makes every Steven Rowley novel an experience; his gift is to make the reader laugh out loud one minute and clutch their chest the next." —Electric Lit

"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants comes the much-anticipated sequel to the Thurber Prize-Winning novel The Guncle, in which Patrick O’Hara is called back to his guncle duties . . . this time for a big family wedding in Italy." —The Nerd Daily

"Steven Rowley’s 2022 hit, The Guncle, charmed readers with its heartwarming story and hilarious cast of characters. The sequel promises more of that, with an overseas twist." —Queerty