He & I

Frederick is a young gay man living in New York in the early 2010s, a time when he feels his life truly begins once he falls in love. The romance starts online, through a dating service, where he meets Johnny, and the two gradually grow closer.

Their bond cannot be separated from the wider climate of a country that remains largely hostile to people like them. Trouble comes at Frederick from many directions, and the hostility he faces includes the battles he fights within himself. His body begins working against him, while Johnny, who keeps his feelings guarded, offers him little comfort.

Both men are caught up in private struggles and conflicts, and the threat of death seems to lurk at every turn. The novel asks whether a love this costly is worth holding onto. Readers follow Frederick's hopes for a wedding and a family with Johnny, and wonder whether their relationship can survive everything it faces.