This is the first novel written by a humor essayist that I have been reading lately. It brings the reader to Provincetown on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Known to be a queer-haven and vacation getaway, P-town welcomes a series of characters destined to become intertwined as they search for some summer fun and a chance to get away from their troubles, perhaps redefining themselves in the process.

Bostonian Josh Felling is on the run from his 8-year relationship after learning that his partner Doug has recently cheated on him with a guy from the gym. Josh's friend Bryan connects him with some friends in P-town who own a B&B and are willing to let him use the cabin in the back to get his life back in order.

It is there that Josh (and the reader) meet local handyman Reilly Brennan, who is on the verge of marrying his fiancée Donna. It is a merger that seemed fated as their families have been looking to be tied in wedded bliss for generations. The problem is that Reilly may not be as ready to get married as everyone, including himself, thinks.

America's next big film star Ty Rusk plans to make the most of his newest filming project set in New York to take the opportunity to visit his producer and lover, Reid Truman, who will be vacationing on the Cape. The question is whether they can keep their relationship (and Ty's sexuality) a secret, particularly when a local girl with dreams of making it big sees their secret as an opportunity to escape her small-town life and make it big.

A local transgendered singer named Emmeline is looking to take the final step into womanhood if she can just save up enough money, but things turn particularly interesting with the arrival of Toby Evans, who has been kicked out of his home in the Midwest when his parents learned that he is gay. She becomes a mother to him just as her own mother is forced to move in after a stroke. The parallels between her relationship with her mother and Toby's with his parents are interesting.

Emmeline works at Jackie's, one of the town's prime night spots. Jackie, a 40-year-old African American lesbian, is coming to terms with her recent breakup and finds herself considering motherhood, particularly if she can find the right guy to take on the role of father.

Then there is Marly, whose husband and daughter have gone off to Paris on business. She manages the local arts center, and is also in charge of a summer arts camp that brings in famous writers and artists from across the country for week-long workshops. It is through this that she meets Garth, a well-known music photographer that would give Annie Liebowitz a run for her money. She slowly finds herself drawn to him, but she can't help but wonder if it is love or loneliness. Will she act on it?

As with the gay community, it quickly becomes clear that families are not only defined by blood and DNA. While the story is complex with the large number of plots and characters, each is well-drawn and carefully developed in a way that makes the reader feel like he is really in a community full of people. Each confronts his or her challenges realistically and grows, though not always in the way that he or the reader would want. That just ads to the realism.

A quick warning to the reader is that the book does get intense when it comes to romance. Readers are taken along as characters get intimate, but it is not done lasciviously. Each time, it adds to the development of the characters involved and adds to the plot.

I am looking forward to Ford's next novel. I have always been a big fan of William J. Mann, and this is right up with that level of writing.