Countries of Origin

Lambda Literary fellow Fuentes debuts with a lush but meandering romance about a gay pastry chef returning to his native Spain. At age eight, Demetrio Simancas’s mother sent him to live with his polyamorous gay uncle in New York. Sixteen years later, in 2007, the undocumented Demetrio’s fake Social Security number raises flags when he tries to move on from his pastry chef job. Forced to return to a country he only half remembers, he meets Jacobo, an attractive, hard-partying NYU student and son of an aristocratic mother and powerful, far-right father, on the plane. Jacobo brings Demetrio, who has fallen suddenly ill, back to his estate, where he charms Jacobo’s mother, Patricia. When Jacobo, who presents as straight, finally makes a move, however, Demetrio violently rebuffs him, concerned about Jacobo’s drug habit. While sorting out his complicated feelings for Jacobo, Demetrio accepts a new kitchen job and grapples with his waning passion for cooking. The plot drifts by, with conflicts emerging and then swiftly disappearing (both Jacobo’s drug problem and his potential closeted-ness are never really resolved), on the way to an implausible conclusion. It’s got style, but it’s light on substance. Agent: Maria Cardona Serra, Aevitas. (June)