Brendan Halpin

After the deaths of her mother and her lesbian lover in an accident, Rosalind, a troubled teen, finds herself living with Sean, the sperm-donor father she has never met, who takes on the task of caring for a grieving teenager.

A Novel

Donorboy

Sarah Sammis

Donorboy by Brendan Halpin is one of those books I found by walking the shelves at my local public library. Rosalind is forced through a tragic accident involving "foodstuffs" to live with her biological father, a man who had been in her life nothing more than a sperm donor for a married pair of lesbians. Now that they are dead, their daughter is sent to live with him. Neither one is exactly thrilled with the situation.

The entire novel is made up of email exchanges, usually of the two main characters, fifteen year old Rosalind, and Sean her "father" sending emails to friends to complain or ask advice. Sometimes Sean will make an attempt to email her directly and sometimes she will send back a snarky reply.

For Rosalind her grief and anger are so deep and consuming that she doesn't want to adjust to her new situation. I didn't expect her to call him Dad or anything but an attempt at civility would have been nice. Instead she's angry and self destructive.

Also by relying solely on written communication, there's no real chance to see Sean and Rosalind together. Is she at all like him? Does he see any of himself in her? What happens when they are together?

It was a quick but not entirely satisfying read.

Donorboy A Novel

Reviews