Suzanne Nelson was raised just outside of San Francisco. A Stanford grad and varsity runner, she heads to New York City for law school. She is gay, but has come out to no one. In New York she meets Kerry Neally, a New Yorker and fellow student. Who is straight. First in a study group and then as a pair, they find themselves become attached to one another. And have to work out that Kerry thinks she's straight. Eileen is Kerry's mother. She is a widow, and meeting Suzanne helps her leave the shell into which she placed herself after her husband died. And she comes to the attention of two men. One a widower. The other divorced. And love intevenes for her choice. With Suzanne settled into her New York life, she turns her back on her parents, who turned their backs on Suzanne's aunt Mary, a gay woman disowned by her parents and brother decades before. She, too, lives in New York and she and Eileen attempt to get Suzanne's parents to understand their daughter. Kate Nelson comes to New York to reason with her daughter. As eventually does William, her father. The story is about how the members of what becomes a large New York family deal with themselves, each other, and love.

The Neallys

In the morning, they could not resist taking advantage of the shower. Suzanne finished brushing her teeth when she returned to a grumpy Kerry still in bed. She bent down and kissed her on the back of the neck, garnishing a “let me sleep” for her efforts. She persisted till Kerry turned on her back, putting her hand in front of her mouth as Suzanne bent down. “Morning breath.” Without warning, Suzanne grabbed her lover’s hand and pulled her into the bathroom. She wore a robe. Kerry was in a t-shirt.


In the bathroom, Suzanne handed a brush and toothpaste to her wife then watched as she rid herself of morning breath. She placed her arms around Kerry when Kerry finished rinsing and resumed making love to the neck she long admired. As they looked at each other in the mirror, Suzanne had two questions: “Did you notice how big the shower is? Did you notice how many nozzles the shower has?”


Chapter 95