The Listener: A Novel - Tapa dura

Heartbreaking and compelling. A sensitive, absorbing story about the need to be heard and the ability to listen.

Basch takes on the many challenges inherent in dealing with issues of personal identity. A powerful story about loving yourself as well as others.

This is a wise novel, full of unexpected twists and turns that lead straight into the intricate center of the heart. Rachel Basch writes with humor and grace about loss, desire, parenting, the conundrums of self-identity, and the many faces of love. Her finely wrought truths echo long after the book is finished. We need them.--Karen Osborn, author of 'Patchwork'

Rachel Basch writes with great insight and a big heart, imbuing her novel with both.--Ann Hood, bestselling author of The Obituary Writer

A riveting, inspiring, keenly smart novel full of brilliant observations about how we become ourselves, how we grow to feel at home both in the world and in our own skin. 'Wow, ' 'wow, ' I wrote in the margins. You won't want it to end.--Bonnie Friedman, bestselling author of 'Writing Past Dark'

Basch is good at plumbing the preoccupations of middle-aged folks and quasi-incestuous New England college towns. The result is not just writing that's good, but writing that's brave.

The Listener is a sharply observed exploration of identity and sexuality. Rachel Basch's engrossing novel captures the complexities of human relationships: both with ourselves and others. Fans of Richard Russo will find much to like in this book.--Michele Filgate, writer

The Listener unfolds like a map, leading us with remarkable clarity through landscapes we thought we knew into the wild territories at the heart of any American family. Rachel Basch uncovers such vital truths about parents, children, lovers, friends--all the people we love and tremble for--that you'll want to put this novel in the hands of everyone you meet and say, Read it now.--Nalini Jones, author of 'What You Call Winter'

Malcolm Dowd is almost positive he recognizes the freshman who shows up for a session at his office in Baxter College’s Center for Behavioral Health—he just can’t place her. When suddenly she stands, takes off her wig, and reveals herself as Noah, the young man Malcolm had been treating months earlier, it marks the start of a relationship that will change them both.After losing his wife at a young age, Malcolm dedicated himself to giving his two daughters the stable, predictable childhood he never had. But now nothing is predictable—not his young adult daughters, not himself, and certainly not Noah. Whether he’s attending class or rehearsing for the campus musical, Noah finds he’s often challenging everyone’s definition of gender. During the course of one semester, Noah’s and Malcolm’s lives become entwined in ways neither could ever have imagined.Told alternately from Malcolm’s and Noah’s perspectives The Listener explores the ways in which we conceal and reveal our identities. As truth after truth is exposed, characters are forced to reconsider themselves and reorder their lives, with few easy answers to be found for anyone. The Listener is, ultimately, about the power of human connection and the many shapes that love can take.