The Guncle

Steven Rowley’s novel The Guncle, originally published in 2021, is about overcoming grief with the help of humor. The book deals with issues of loss, gay love, and the intangible things that bind families together. The Guncle was an NPR Book of the Year and a Goodreads Choice Award finalist. Rowley, also the author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor, is currently adapting The Guncle into a film for Lionsgate Entertainment.

Plot Summary

Patrick O’Hara, a former sitcom star now living alone in Palm Springs, CA, takes in his nine-year-old niece, Maisie, and his six-year-old nephew, Grant. Their mother Sara has just died, and their father will spend the summer in rehab for drug addiction.

Patrick’s pool becomes the center of the daily routine during the blistering summer days. His neighbors, a throuple, are a reliable support system. Patrick, who is still grieving the death of his partner, Joe, wants the kids to put their mother’s death out of their thoughts; he shares stories of Sara’s early days in New York, hoping to paint a fuller picture of her for her kids.

Patrick’s agent’s assistant, Cassie Everest, tries to convince him to come out of retirement. Cassie understands Patrick like his agent never has. Patrick replaces Neal, and Cassie proves an astute and capable manager.

When Patrick tries to broach the subject of Sara’s death with the kids, hoping to help them confront their grief, he decides to throw a party to lighten the mood. They plan a splashy, catered affair for friends and up-and-coming TV stars. As the party drags into the night, Patrick’s sister Clara suddenly appears. She is shocked at what she sees as her brother’s negligence: allowing the kids to be up so late and exposed to so many intoxicated party guests. She announces she’s taking the kids back to Connecticut. Patrick, who now has a close bond with Maisie and Grant, is adamantly opposed. Eventually, Clara relents, confessing that her marriage is coming apart and that she is questioning her sexual identity.  

One evening, Grant is injured in an earthquake. Patrick rushes him to the hospital; sitting in the waiting room triggers memories of Joe’s final days, of his family swooping in and refusing to acknowledge Patrick’s importance in Joe’s life. Grant’s injuries are minor, but the violence of the quake has left the kids frightened and unsettled. Patrick decides to be a role model for the kids, telling them about how hard it’s been to get over Joe’s death. Following a cue from his own grief counselor, Patrick suggests they all write letters to Sara.

One evening, while scrolling through the YouTube videos Maisie has been posting, Patrick is stunned by the number of likes and the adoration of his fanbase. He asks Cassie to put out feelers for potential work in New York where he can be closer to his family. At the end of summer, after a tearful goodbye to the kids at the airport, Patrick returns home, looking for something to alleviate the darkness of his empty house.

That evening, Cassie calls with an offer to create a sitcom based on the YouTube videos of Patrick and the kids, but the show will shoot in LA, not New York. After balking, he works out a deal: He will take the job but only after he can make time for live theater, his first passion. Months later, on his play’s opening night, Patrick stands in the wings waiting for the curtain to rise. With his family and a new boyfriend in the audience, Patrick has gotten to a place of healing—the pain of loss has been replaced by the knowledge that Joe and Sara will always be with him.