JERSIG

In Whitehouse’s debut novel, a man named Quentin “Q.” Yonally Dettweiler meets a mysterious and charismatic man who turns his life upside down—and helps him to discover his true calling.

The story’s protagonist is 26 years old and working as a health care consultant for a firm located near a California beach. Although nothing seems obviously amiss in his life, he feels unsatisfied. “I was wrapped in the carousel of a monotonous existence,” he reflects early on, “a life being lived incomplete.” However, an impromptu meeting at a coffee shop with a striking, wealthy man named James Jersig irrevocably changes the course of Q.’s life. Jersig impulsively invites him aboard his yacht for a lavish party, where he winds up hiring Q. as both an assistant and as his own personal scribe: “I’d like you to write for me each week. A piece that draws on the emotions, situations, and events from the week prior.” Working for Jersig provides Q. with a glimpse into a life of luxury, which also involves tense business dealings and potentially illegal associations. However, the major draw for Q. is the fact that Jersig seems to see him for who he is—and that he recognizes the man that he hopes to become: “What you search for is authenticity,” Jersig observes; for far too long, Q. realizes, he’s lived the life he thought he should rather than the one he wanted. Overall, this is a relatively brief book, but Whitehouse maintains a clipped pace throughout the narrative that keeps it moving forward. The story is part mystery, part philosophical musing, and it explores what it means to get a second chance at life and to seize opportunity when it comes one’s way. Much of this message is conveyed through conversations between the characters—particularly between Q., Jersig, and Jersig’s partner, Cadence. Although the text sometimes feels heavily freighted with gravitas—as when Q. writes down the question, “Is there a place in the world for a man such as me?”—it also helps propel the story and clarify plot points that might have otherwise been murky.

A thoughtful tale that explores a friendship between two men trying to live authentic lives.