Old Vines - Paperback

by Michael Hartwig (Author)

Patrick grew up in a tight-knit Italian family in a Boston suburb but always felt a certain antipathy from his parents and grandparents over his being gay. Much to his surprise, as he was cleaning out his parents' house after their passing, he discovered an old, worn photograph of his grandfather arm in arm with another man, their shirtless torsos gleaming in the Italian sun. Tasked with settling his grandfather's estate and title, Patrick brings the sensually suggestive image with him to the ancestral vineyard on the Amalfi Coast, hoping he might find out who the enigmatic individual was. While abroad, Patrick falls under the spell of Pepe, the handsome vintner on the family farm, and Zeno, an alluring waiter whose eyes resemble those of his grandfather's companion. Their entangled affections echo long-concealed Benevento family secrets, stories woven into the old, gnarly vines clinging to the terraced land overlooking the sea. Patrick, at a crossroads in his own life, wrestles with career choices, connections back home, and the enticing opportunities emerging in a new land. The plot thickens when Patrick aborts his return to Boston, only to discover that the bonds he was forging in Italy were more complicated than they seemed. This fast-paced and steamy coming of age gay romance celebrates the magnificent beauty of the Amalfi Coast, the delicious men who tend the vines and serve the tourists, and the food and wine that feed the soul. It is the first book in the Old Vines trilogy, an intergenerational saga of love and self-discovery that includes rich and complex characters who invite us to imagine new paradigms of family and sexuality.