Rootbound

Robert Houseman believed he had left his past behind—until it showed up on his doorstep in the form of Carla Lopez, the woman who had vanished from his life thirty years before. But Carla wasn’t alone She brings news that shakes his carefully-ordered world: they have a son, Bobby Lopez, now a grown man, who has never known his father. Their reunion drives them all to navigate long-buried truths and regrets, as well as the dangers of a city that is not entirely accepting of gay men such as Bobby. This includes Houseman’s sharp-tongued and unrepentantly prejudiced mother, to whom he must present Bobby, Carla, and the possibility of a new family dynamic. A hate crime, a demonstration, and a police riot call Houseman to reawaken to his radical roots while trying to reconcile himself to traditional values of family, identity, and love. With quiet humor and deep reflection, Rootbound is a poignant exploration of what it means to grow, to change, and to find home in unexpected places. Richard Risemberg lives and works in Los Angeles. Rootbound is one of a series of works exploring universal themes of human experience: time and memory, love and loss, identity and redemption.