Showing results for "Layers" in Family Life

The Layers is the debut novel from Stephen Reynolds, exploring how our identity is shaped by our relationships. The anonymous protagonist recounts his life story, showing us how the people he has loved - his parents, sister, grandfather, best friend, and partner - have all helped to form who he is. He is a different version of himself with each loved one, versions which combine to make up a whole person. However, as the book goes on and the protagonist starts to lose grip of people around him, he begins to wonder who he really is without them.

Attorney Jake Trenton's perfectly ordered life unravels when he loses a promotion and his wife announces she wants to become a surrogate. While he spends even more time at the office to prove his worth, he worries about the effects on their family if Sophia carries a baby for a stranger. Once Sophia explains how important it is to her to bear a child for someone who can't, Jake reluctantly agrees. However, when the embryo transfer is successful, Jake's carefully constructed world crumbles beneath the memory of his brother's death, which occurred years ago in the same month the baby is due.