"Welcome to the world of Maurice Vellekoop, the youngest of four children raised by Dutch immigrants in 1970s suburban Toronto. Despite the working-class family's deep revence for the arts, young Maurice would rather watch Carol Burnett on TV than read a book. He also loves playing with Barbie dolls and helping his Mum in her basement hair salon. In short, he is really, really gay. Which is a huge problem, because the Vellekoops are devoted members of the Christian Reformed Church, a strict Calvinist sect. When he finally comes out to her, his mother, Ann can't accept his sexuality. Immediately after Vellekoop's art school graduation, his career as an illustrator takes off. But despite a life filled with making and consuming art, he is caught in a spiderweb of family, faith, guilt, fraught sexuality, shaky mental health, inherited World War II trauma, an obsession with the mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and French Formula hairspray. Will he ever find his heart's desire?" --Publisher.