Virtue: A Novel

During the raw, reeling months after the 2016 presidential election, Luca Lewis––a twenty-three-year-old Colorado native––begins working as an intern at a prestigious Manhattan literary magazine and is swept along by cultural, social, and personal transformations. Lacking self-confidence and unsure what kind of man he wants to be, Luca befriends the other interns, including Black activist Zara, and hovers on the edges of city life. An unexpected friendship with a charismatic, artistic, and wealthy couple gives Luca a glimpse of another kind of existence––well removed from his cramped Chinatown apartment; the worried, guilty inaction of the magazine; and the uncertainties of being young. Though Zara encourages him to join her in social justice initiatives during the summer, Luca instead accepts Paula and Jason’s invitation to spend the summer with them at their house in Maine––a decision that will affect the rest of his life.

Luca’s search for meaning, identity, and a palatable version of adulthood is bleak and unrelenting, raising the question of what happiness is possible––or deserved––in a world full of injustice and violence. Hoby allows Luca his unforgiving regrets and offers little in the way of redemption. Though acceptance and even contentment are possible for Luca, time isn’t enough to dim the worst of his youthful mistakes.