The Town of Babylon: A Novel

Revolutionary Road meets What Belongs to You, a novel about suburban malaise, following Andres, a gay Latinx professor, returning to his hometown for a twenty-year high school reunion. When his father falls ill, Andres, a professor of public health, returns to his suburban hometown to tend to his recovery. Reevaluating his rocky marriage in the wake of his husband's infidelity and with little else to do, he decides to attend his twenty-year high school reunion, where he runs into the long-lost characters of his youth. Jeremy, his first love, is now married with two children after having been incarcerated and recovering from addiction. Paul, who Andres has long suspected of having killed a man in a homophobic attack, is now an Evangelical minister and father of five. And Andres discovers his once best friend Simone in a psychiatric institution following a diagnosis of schizophrenia. During this short stay, Andres confronts these relationships, the death of his brother, and the many sacrifices his parents made to offer him a better life. A novel about the essential nature of community in maintaining one's own health, The Town of Babylon is an intimate portrait of queer, racial, and class identity, a call to reevaluate the ties of societal bonds.