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Mark Valerian, the second son in the Valerian family, is ill, but determined to live life to the fullest - and live forever if he can. When he discovers Bill Mackey, a young theatrical designer who is also suffering from this disease neither wants to name, he also finds the lover of his dreams. Together they develop an incredible plan to survive that will take them to Europe, to rustic Maine, and finally to the wonderful seaside summer mansion of the Valerian family, where father and son confront the painful ties of kinship ... and the joyous bonds of love.Originally published in 1988, it was Ferro's final novel, completed in the months leading to his death from AIDS as he cared for his lover Michael Grumley. This new edition contains a foreword by Tom Cardamone (Crashing Cathedrals: Edmund White by the Book)."Second Son is transcendently beautiful; exquisitely written, exquisitely restrained. The accomplishment of Second Son reminds us of what literature has always been about - the deep examination of the soul. Rich, poignant, unforgettable, it leaves one with a rare feeling of having been in touch for a little while with the things that really matter" - Anne Rice"In a purity of language met by purity of feeling, Robert Ferro's Second Son illuminates a tragedy of our time - the fusion of love and grieving, devotion and sorrowing - that is as venerable as the human heart itself. Earlier novels that center around sickness have turned out to be life-giving - Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain comes first to mind - and Robert Ferro enters this tradition with touching artistry, in his own robust yet tranquil voice, and with the lucent and simple clarity of hope." - Cynthia Ozick"I admired The Family of Max Desir. I love Second Son. The surprising story of the love between two men threatened byillness is full of fine authentic details and broader realizations about the human condition." - Doris Grumbach… (more)
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Mark also must deal with his HIV status and his own self-perceptions of what it is to be a gay man living with HIV. He doesn't feel deserving of love, not from his family and certainly not from another gay man, and the seclusion of the house in Cape May allows him some form of escape. But he still must live and work so he travels to Italy to work on a commission and there, through letters from his closest friend Matthew, is introduced to a theatrical designer named Brian. The connection is almost immediate and once they discover that they're both positive, a barrier crumbles between them. They grow more intimate and fall in love.
Much of the novel deals with the struggles that all families go through when someone is sick, especially during the HIV/AIDS epidemic and panic in the 80s. Mark separates himself from his family, for the most part because he feels that he needs to but also because he picks up on subtle hints from his family that steer him in that direction, such as when his brother George and his wife don't allow him to touch their granddaughter, not so much by words but by their actions and reactions to him. These feelings come to a head when he learns that the family has already mortgaged the house in the Cape without telling him, and he blurts out in anger that his father had already written him off as dead.
Another strong scene that counters this and fights against Mark's own feelings of sadness comes when his niece -- George's daughter -- goes to answer a ringing phone and sets her baby daughter in Mark's lap. Instead of playing with his great-niece, he cries sad yet happy tears that someone in his family sees him as Mark instead of as someone with HIV/AIDS. Until that point, he really didn't believe his family could see the difference.
Instead of proselytizing that having HIV/AIDS means not being able to love or being quarantined from the world, Ferro's novel teaches that everyone is deserving of love and respect, no matter what hardships or problems arise