“The Pairing” is Delicious and Sultry https://ift.tt/HxTGKOd
Theo Flowerday and Kit Fairfield have always been “Theo-and-Kit” in Casey McQuiston’s newest novel, The Pairing. This means: best friends from childhood in southern California, close confidants during that time Kit’s family moved to New York, and Sonny and Cher that one Halloween after Kit moved back. Somewhere along the way, they became lovers, and then, eventually, exes. They become just Theo and Kit then, going their separate ways and thinking they’ll never see each other for the rest of their lives… until they separately book the same exact European food tour that they planned to attend together years ago, resulting in an accidental reunion four years later.
When Theo and Kit agree to enjoy the tour by themselves, they somehow get back to being “Theo-and-Kit,” but with some notable differences. Kit, now a resident of Paris and a patissier at a fancy French hotel, gets random nosebleeds after an unfortunate gondola incident in Venice a few years ago. Theo, a weekend bartender in Palm Springs just one certification exam away from being an official sommelier, has shorter hair and better posture. They’ve been with other people and have chased new, better life goals in their time apart, which makes it easier for them to agree that they’re better as friends, and even easier to engage in a friendly competition to see who between them can bag more one night stands over the duration of their tour.
But against the backdrop of some of the most romantic cities in the world and the possibility of sex with strangers around every corner, Theo and Kit’s longstanding feelings for each other start to resurface, along with the problems that broke them up in the first place. The Pairing is a fun, sexy read, shiny with the possibilities of traveling with the potential love of your life.
It is very easy to fall in love with McQuiston’s newest pairing (pun intended). With the novel being split between both of their perspectives, Theo taking the first half and Kit the second, McQuiston has great command of their characters’ distinct voices and individual arcs throughout the entirety of the novel. Where Theo feels like a risk-taker — bold, rag-tag, and impulsive in their efforts to take the best path for themselves outside of the family business — Kit feels graceful, breezy, and contemplative, yet guarded, stuck on the tragedies of his past as he struggles to honor his love for both art and pastry.
Their dynamic is equal parts easygoing and strained given their complicated history, though I felt at times that the misunderstandings between them did not feel adequate in explaining their break up and past lack of communication. Even so, I was riveted by the things said and unsaid between Kit and Theo, endeared by their easy rapport regarding gender and identity as bisexual, and delighted by their slutty antics together and apart from skinny-dipping in the Mediterranean to crashing expensive yacht parties to unabashed flirting with beautiful strangers, and sex on balconies.
The novel is also very enjoyable in its rendering of European cities and their residents. Each chapter is dedicated to a stop in the food tour, featuring descriptive passages of the historical sights and tasty foods in cities like Paris, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Nice, Florence, and San Sebastián. As someone who was reading in the comfort of my home which is very much not located in Europe, I felt transported to each place. When I read the chapter set in Barcelona, I was both fascinated with the story of Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia and envious that I was not there personally, listening to Kit tell Theo what he read about it. When Theo had Kit guess the notes of an Aglianico del Taburno in Naples — black currant, leathery, with lots of tannins — I wanted to taste it to see if I agreed.
The richest foods, picturesque locations, and plentiful sexual encounters are bittersweet with forgotten memories, lost time, and unspoken feelings in The Pairing, making it a deliciously tense, sultry romp sure to inspire many food tours of its own.
FICTION The Pairing
By Casey McQuiston
St. Martin’s Griffin
Published August 6, 2024
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