A Company of Three

When Robert, Patrick, and Irene met in New York, they were all determined to become actors, and it felt as if the city–indeed, the world–could be their oyster. Robert was the good-looking, ambitious one. Patrick was tall, ungainly, but naturally dramatic. And Irene, a former rodeo star out of Kansas, was the beautiful ingenue. They were young, talented, and passionate, and they soon became inseparable.

But as it happens, their careers don’t take off together. Patrick becomes too embroiled in dangerous love affairs to stay the course. Irene, sizing up the competition, decides to try and sleep her way to the top. And Robert finds himself suddenly becoming a soap opera star. As their lives change course, their friendships are tested, and the casualties start to mount: Patrick’s career, Irene’s loyalty, Robert’s heart.

Set against the backdrop of New York City in the late 1970s, A Company of Three takes us inside the complex, sometimes brutal world of actors, and the heart-rending choices that threaten to undo them. And with echoes of A Home at the End of the World, Varley O’Connor examines the true value of friendship, love, and the most unlikely forms of family.