53 pages • 1 hour read
Steven RowleyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses anti-gay bias.
Steven Rowley is the author of The Guncle Abroad, its predecessor, The Guncle, and The Celebrants. He is known primarily for his style, in which he blends humor with serious themes, such as grief and the process of healing. This trademark style is on display in The Guncle and The Guncle Abroad, as the protagonist, Patrick, processes his own grief and anxieties toward love by guiding his niece and nephew. Rowley sees the subjects of humor and grief as closely intertwined: “For me, humor has always been the way through the darkness. But finding that balance with humor and heartbreak—I pay a lot of attention to it” (Cho, Allison. “The ‘Guncle’ Is Back. Author Steven Rowley Takes Us Behind the Scenes.” The Washington Post, 2024). Rowley likes to find a balance between heavy subjects and humor that can not only bring some joy but amplify the meaning of his words.
The desire to instill joy comes from Rowley’s own experiences reading LGBTQIA+ literature and the way in which he wants to leave a mark on the genre:
Looking back on the queer literature that was available to me when I was still closeted, sadly, a lot of it was about lives that were very lonely or in the shadows. I tried to make it a mission to infuse the books that I write, which all have queer characters, with some joy (Cho).
The Guncle and The Guncle Abroad are both novels that center around a queer protagonist, and Rowley seeks to tell Patrick’s story in a way that respects the weight of grief and tragedy while also demonstrating how joy can be found in difficult moments.
The Guncle is the predecessor to The Guncle Abroad and follows Patrick and his family five years prior to the events of the sequel. The summer that Maisie and Grant’s mother dies, Greg sends them to live with Patrick while he works through rehab. Before she married Greg, Sara was Patrick’s best friend in college, though they grew distant after the wedding. Patrick himself is fairly isolated from his family, hiding in Palm Springs, still grieving the loss of Joe, the love of his life. When Maisie and Grant arrive, Patrick realizes that he must help them navigate their grief as a favor to Greg, and by doing so, he learns about himself and begins to heal from the tragic loss of Joe.
The Guncle concentrates on themes surrounding grief and the healing process after tragic events. Grant and Maisie are children in this novel, and the loss is fresh. By processing their grief with Patrick, their bond grows strong, making Patrick’s efforts to teach them about love in The Guncle Abroad possible. Another aspect of The Guncle that plays a large part in The Guncle Abroad is Patrick’s love life. After losing Joe, Patrick isolates himself and does not look for love. When he opens up to Emory in The Guncle, Patrick takes the first step to finding love again and healing from the tragedy of Joe’s death. In The Guncle Abroad, Patrick breaks up with Emory after five years, insecure about how their age difference may impact their relationship. While Patrick does not worry about their age difference in The Guncle, his anxieties in The Guncle Abroad demonstrate how connected Patrick feels to Emory; they are no longer engaging in a fun fling.
By Steven Rowley