Grafting
Rylan’s Debut Novel
Forthcoming June 2nd, 2026
ISBN 978-1-952143-9-60
Praise for Grafting
“In lush, sensory prose and with characters that pull you in from the first page, Rylan Hynes has gifted readers with a novel as place-specific as it is universal. Here is a story about faith, family, and the joy and devastation of young romance. More than this, Grafting is a timely story about the human right not only to love who we are called to love, but to be accepted—to belong—in the place we call home.”
—Shannon Bowring, author of The Dalton Novels
"Grafting, Rylan Hynes's new novel, is not just a deeply moving, heartfelt love story, but also a rich, satisfying love letter to the earth itself, from which the two lovers—indeed all lovers—grow."
—Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath “Fool” novels
"Grafting is an absolute knockout. Formally innovative, introspective, and wise, it is a moving portrait of inheritance, what defines home, queer love, and the power of connection. Hynes has written a love letter to queerness, young love made possible again, and rural identity. This immersive story will have you re-examining your own relationship to healing, strength, and what it means to give yourself the tenderness you deserve. A truly unforgettable story."
—Mac Crane, author of A Sharp Endless Need
Grafting is a luminous debut novel about second chances, forbidden love, and the courage to cultivate beauty in unforgiving soil.
When Eben Turner returns to his family's apple orchard in rural Maine after his parents' death, he faces more than just the weight of inheritance—he confronts the love he left behind. A decade has passed since he and Chris Hartley, the Methodist minister's son, were torn apart in their final year of high school, their secret relationship severed by the forces of faith and small-town judgment. Now, as adults navigating the crossroads of identity and belonging, they must reckon with both their buried past and an uncertain future.
Set against the Edenic beauty of New England, Grafting unfolds through dual perspectives in a lyrical narrative that mirrors the delicate art of joining two trees to create something stronger. As Eben and Chris work to understand how they came to be parted, they discover that healing requires more than forgiveness—it demands the courage to cultivate love in hostile ground.
This exquisite debut explores the cost of forbidden desire and the resilience required to claim one's authentic self. With prose as rooted and enduring as the heritage apple trees that anchor the story, Grafting asks whether two people can truly come home to each other after being forced apart by the very communities that shaped them.
A voice-driven and unforgettable tale of queer love and rural identity, Grafting will resonate with readers who were moved by the sweeping emotion of Brokeback Mountain, the luminous prose of Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, and stories that find the sacred in the profane, the universal in the deeply personal.