Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Fertility is a family drama about fragility, in all its forms
One of the hardest, most heartbreaking experiences that can come at a woman as she approaches her forties is the discovery that she cannot have a baby. As Fertility opens, Costanza Ansaldo, a half-Italian and half-American translator, is convinced that she has made peace with her childlessness. She has traveled to Italy to restart her life a year after the death of her husband, an eminent writer. Returning to the pension in Florence where she spent many happy times as a child, she meets Andrew Weissman, an acutely sensitive seventeen-year-old, and, soon afterward, his father, Henry Weissman, a charismatic New York physician who specializes in--of all things--reproductive medicine. The triangle that forms resumes three months later in New York, where the relationships turn and tighten with combustive effects that cut to the core of what it means to be a father, a son, and--for Costanza--a potential mother.
Suspenseful and gripping, Michael Frank's Fertility is a psychological novel that, like The Mighty Franks, is a book about family secrets too closely held and about discovering who we are, and who those closest to us are, when life puts us through disturbing and powerful tests. It is exquisitely told.
Synopsis
Suspenseful and gripping, award-winning author Michael Frank's What is Missing is a psychological family drama about a father, a son, and the woman they both love.
Costanza Ansaldo, a half-Italian and half-American translator, is convinced that she has made peace with her childlessness. A year after the death of her husband, an eminent writer, she returns to the pensione in Florence where she spent many happy times in her youth, and there she meets, first, Andrew Weissman, an acutely sensitive seventeen-year-old, and, soon afterward, his father, Henry Weissman, a charismatic New York physician who specializes in--as it happens--reproductive medicine.
With three lives each marked by heartbreak and absence--of a child, a parent, a partner, or a clear sense of identity--What is Missing offers Costanza, Andrew, and Henry the opportunity to make themselves whole when the triangle resumes three months later in New York, where the relationships among them turn and tighten with combustive effects that cut to the core of what it means to be a father, a son, and--for Costanza--a potential mother.
Synopsis
"A wise and necessary book, one I've been recommending ardently to everyone I know. " --Julie Orringer, author of The Flight Portfolio
Suspenseful and gripping, award-winning author Michael Frank's What is Missing is a psychological family drama about a father, a son, and the woman they both love.
Costanza Ansaldo, a half-Italian and half-American translator, is convinced that she has made peace with her childlessness. A year after the death of her husband, an eminent writer, she returns to the pensione in Florence where she spent many happy times in her youth, and there she meets, first, Andrew Weissman, an acutely sensitive seventeen-year-old, and, soon afterward, his father, Henry Weissman, a charismatic New York physician who specializes in--as it happens--reproductive medicine.
With three lives each marked by heartbreak and absence--of a child, a parent, a partner, or a clear sense of identity--What is Missing offers Costanza, Andrew, and Henry the opportunity to make themselves whole when the triangle resumes three months later in New York, where the relationships among them turn and tighten with combustive effects that cut to the core of what it means to be a father, a son, and--for Costanza--a potential mother.