The Boys

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“A novel of multitudes …. What a wonder of storytelling. I will be thinking of these boys for a long time to come” —The New York Times

"Remarkable …. Starting out as a lighthearted romance before taking an unsettling turn” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A tour-de-force debut novel by Katie Hafner about love, loss, and the yearning for connection.

When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries Barb, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. Because Ethan fears becoming a father, one day Barb brings home two young brothers, Tommy and Sam, for them to foster, and Ethan immediately falls in love with the two boys.

When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. But instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, the boys become a wedge in their relationship, as Ethan is unable to share with Barb a secret that has been haunting him since childhood. Then Ethan takes Tommy and Sam on a biking trip in Italy, and it becomes clear just how unusual Ethan and his children are.

 This hauntingly beautiful novel—a bold and original high-wire feat—is "a treat with a surprise inside" (Publishers Weekly).  

About The Author:
Katie Hafner is a journalist and author who writes frequently for the New York Times and The Washington Post. She is the author of six non-fiction books including Mother Daughter Me, a memoir; A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano; Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet (with Matthew Lyon). She is the host and co-executive producer of the popular podcast, Lost Women of Science. The Boys is her first novel. She lives in San Francisco.