Excerpt from A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

He tried to call his mother, but the time difference was off. Only dawn in California. He was angry, embarrassed, already a little drunk. He went outside to stand in the undercroft of the clubhouse, staring out at the rain.

His grandfather had been a Catholic priest: a short story in ten words or fewer. And him the living proof.

Excerpted from A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia. Copyright © 2026 by Stephanie Sy-Quia. Excerpted by permission of Grove Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.