Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll: A Novel

Paul Monette

Apr 2014 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

Now that Mrs. Carroll has died, the race for control of her elegant home has begun

It is incredible how the death of a loved one can bring people together. Especially when greedy developers waste no time in attempting to steal the Cape Cod estate of the person in question.

Before she could add a stipulation to her will requiring that the house not be bought up and razed for development, Mrs. Carroll tragically passed away. Now, it is up to her lover, Phidias, and her houseboy, David, to take care of the place once again. However, they cannot do it alone. They will need the help of people ranging from David’s ex-boyfriend Rick to a kitschy former screen goddess.

Written not long after Paul Monette moved to Los Angeles, his first novel is a madcap caper featuring a cast of characters willing to do anything to fulfill a dying woman’s final wish—even if that means impersonating her while hiding her dead body from the nosy lawyers scouring her estate.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Paul Monette including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the Paul Monette papers of the UCLA Library Special Collections.

About the author

Paul Monette (1945–1995) was an author, poet, and gay rights activist. Born in Massachusetts and educated at Yale University, he moved with his partner Roger Horwitz to Los Angeles in 1978 and became involved in the gay rights movement. Monette’s writing captures the sense of heartbreak and loss at the center of the AIDS crisis. His first novel, Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll, was published in 1978, and he went on to write several more works of fiction, poetry, and memoir. Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir, the tender account of his partner’s battle with the disease, earned him both PEN Center West and Lambda Literary Awards. In 1992, Monette won the National Book Award in Nonfiction for Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story, an autobiography detailing his early life and his struggle with his sexuality. Written as a classic coming-of-age story, Becoming a Man became a seminal coming-out story. In 1995, Monette founded the Monette-Horwitz Trust, which honors individuals and organizations working to combat homophobia. Monette died in his home in West Hollywood in 1995 of complications from AIDS.