The Guncle Abroad

The Guncle Abroad (2024) by Steven Rowley is the sequel to Rowley’s 2021 bestseller, The Guncle. It follows Patrick, the protagonist, as he travels across Europe with his niece and nephew, Maisie and Grant, preparing them for their father’s wedding in Italy. Five years after the death of their mother, Maisie and Grant are resistant to their father’s fiancée, Livia. Patrick must teach them about love, with hopes they will accept Livia and give their blessing for the wedding. The Guncle Abroad focuses on such themes as The Persistence of Grief, The Tension of Aging, and The Impact of Love on Self-Perception. 

This guide references the first edition hardcover, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain references to addiction and anti-gay bias.

Plot Summary

Patrick looks out his hotel window on Lake Como, in Italy, and sees his brother, Greg, get in a boat with his fiancée, Livia. He wonders if their wedding will in fact happen later that day. The night before, his niece and nephew, Maisie and Grant, made a scene at the rehearsal dinner. Five years ago, Patrick took in Maisie and Grant at his house in Palm Springs after their mother, Sara, died, and their father, Greg, needed to attend rehab. Patrick helped them to maneuver through their grief. Patrick has spent the month leading up to the wedding traveling around Europe with Maisie and Grant, teaching them about love. Maisie is resistant to Livia, not wanting to replace her mother. When Patrick answers a knock at the door, he is surprised and exclaims, “It’s you.”

The narrative flashes back to four weeks prior to the wedding. Patrick is in London, on set for his role in a movie. He has recently broken up with his boyfriend, Emory, after five years of dating because Patrick was worried that the near 15-year age difference between them would result in Emory not loving him anymore. Patrick is approaching 50, and his insecurity over his age halts not only his love life but also his professional life. Patrick does not know what to do next, and his agent, Cassie, is frustrated.

At his hotel, Patrick receives a wedding invitation from Greg to a woman named Livia, a rich Italian. Patrick calls Greg, and Greg tells Patrick that Maisie and Grant are struggling to accept Livia and that he once again needs Patrick’s help. Patrick agrees to take Maisie and Grant on a trip across Europe in hopes of changing their minds before the wedding. When Grant and Maisie arrive in London, Patrick realizes how much they have grown up. Both kids plead with Patrick to convince Greg not to marry Livia, but Patrick tells them that they must give her a chance.

Their tour of Europe starts in London, where Patrick casts Grant and Maisie as extras in his film. They then take the train to Paris, and on their journey, Maisie once again tries to convince Patrick to stop the wedding. Patrick explains that he will use this trip to teach Grant and Maisie about love languages, which will show them that Livia is a good person who wants to be their mother. In Paris, he brings them to tourist attractions and gets them to try French food and drink to teach them that new experiences can be positive.

Next, they go to Austria and take The Sound of Music tour to honor Sara, who always wanted to do it. Patrick explains that it is important to do things for those you love. Their last stop before the wedding is Venice, and though the children enjoy the trip, Patrick worries that his lessons are not sinking in, particularly when Grant and Maisie bring up Emory, questioning why they broke up. Patrick wonders if he is an expert on love, and he becomes insecure when Maisie and Grant talk about Livia’s sister, Palmina, and how cool she is. Palmina is younger than Patrick, and she is a lesbian. Patrick senses a threat to his relationship with Maisie and Grant, and he becomes wary of Palmina before he even meets her.

Patrick, Grant, and Maisie arrive at the hotel in Lake Como and meet Greg and Livia. Patrick can understand why the children do not like Livia, as she is hard to read, but he hopes that they will come to accept her. Later, Livia tells Patrick that she is excited to be a mother, as she tried for years but could not become one. The next day, Greg tells Patrick that he needs Livia in his life, despite others’ doubts. That night, Greg and Patrick’s sister Clara arrives, and the two families meet. At the social gathering, Patrick finally meets Palmina and sees that she is as effortlessly cool as Maisie and Grant made her out to be. She teases Patrick, and their rivalry is solidified.

Clara is recently divorced and looking for a man at the wedding, and she and Patrick find themselves both eyeing others at the beach the next day. Patrick realizes that with Clara around, it is easier for him to watch the kids, and he realizes that Greg needs this as well. Meanwhile, Cassie calls Patrick to offer him a role in a Grease revival as the DJ who teaches the hand-jive. 

That night, Patrick joins Clara, Palmina, Livia, and Maisie for Livia’s bachelorette party. Maisie briefly opens up to Livia during the party. Patrick spends the party feeling like an outsider to the women around him. As he watches Maisie with Livia and Palmina, he realizes that she needs maternal figures in her life.

Later, Greg tells Patrick that he is unsure about whether marrying Livia is the right thing to do for the children. Patrick encourages him to ask them, and he explains that they are nervous about Livia replacing Sara. Greg turns the conversation to Patrick and asks what happened with Emory. He criticizes Patrick, saying that Patrick is always quick to give others life advice but never takes it himself.

The rehearsal dinner is the next night, and Maisie once again pleads with Patrick to stop the wedding. She also tells him that if he does not, she will, having translated something bad that she overheard Livia say. When Patrick gives his speech, he talks about the need to protect love, admitting that he did not do so with Emory. Maisie is angry. She then gets up and claims that Livia said that she does not want to be a mother. Livia explains that there is a translation error. Maisie pleads with Greg to stop the wedding, but Grant declares that he wants Livia to be their new mother, upset that Maisie got more time with Sara. Maisie storms out of the wedding. Later that night, Clara and Patrick visit Palmina’s room and ask for her help in getting the wedding back on track. Palmina suggests that they let time heal the wounds and not interfere.

The next morning, returning to the events of the opening, Patrick hears a knock on his door. When he opens it, he finds Emory. Emory explains that he came after Maisie and Grant told him that Patrick needed him. Patrick is shocked that Grant and Maisie would lie, but he takes the opportunity to explain his insecurities about his age and their relationship. He asks if Emory will get back together with him, and Emory tells Patrick that he never considered them truly broken up.

Greg and the rest of the family are excited to see Emory. Greg and Livia announce that they will not be married in Italy but wait to be married in Connecticut, to give Maisie and Grant more time to adjust. Maisie likes this suggestion and makes a suggestion of her own. She says that Patrick and Emory should be married instead of Livia and Greg. Livia’s family agrees that the food and party should not go to waste, and Patrick, finally content, proposes. Patrick and Emory are married in front of Lake Como, with Greg as Patrick’s best man. With no rings, Palmina steps up and binds Patrick and Emory’s hands with her scarf. At the party later that night, Patrick revels in the love he feels, and he tells Maisie and Grant that he is proud of them for growing with their grief and that he knows Sara is proud as well.

On the plane back from Italy, Maisie shows Patrick a letter that Greg gave her. It is written by Sara and addressed to whomever Greg marries after her. In the letter, Sara asks the next woman to be patient with Maisie and Grant and that if Greg loves her, so, too, will the children eventually. Patrick tells Maisie that she is strong, and Maisie asks to talk to Livia. Patrick is proud to see the beginnings of their relationship.

Months later, on Patrick’s birthday, Greg, Livia, Maisie, Grant, and Palmina come to see him in Grease. Emory gives Patrick a birthday gift in envelope, where he finds keys. Emory explains that the keys are for a house in Palm Springs. Patrick feels ecstatic to have a place to share with his family.