Once You Go Back Chapters & Outline
Buckey, a 30-year-old successful landscape designer, straddles two worlds: the lavish realm of his super-rich clients and the rural roots he's worked hard to shed. With clients, even in conservative Savanah, he’s accepted as a gay man. But in the world with his blue-collar landscape crews, he plays the role of a straight guy. His carefully cultivated and compartmentalized life takes an unexpected turn when a retiring Hollywood celebrity requests his services way out in rural Georgia, tasking him with creating gardens worthy of her opulent estate.
Assembling a crew in the desolate town forces Buckey to take extreme measures—working with a coyote to bring in undocumented workers and enrolling in a Spanish language immersion school in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic's capital.
This school and Dominican trip begin as a practical solution but evolve into a transformative journey, leading Buckey to unexpected, magical places. Warmly embraced by the locals and indoctrinated into their male-dominated culture, he discovers an authenticity he'd never known. As he explores the wild, untamed landscapes of Hispaniola and falls in love with a black man, his perspective undergoes a profound shift.
The lives of his super-rich clients begin to feel at odds with the genuine connections he forms with these men. Buckey's newfound freedom and success bring challenges as he grapples with racial prejudice, social and economic disparities, and his own involvement with undocumented people.
His formative journey unfolds against a backdrop of rugged cacti forests, soaring mountain ecosystems, and cloud forests that slip into the crystal blue Caribbean. Upon returning home, Buckey must reconcile the honest, simple poverty of that world with the elaborate estate where he works. As these two worlds collide, they eventually meld—much like Buckey's own internal conflicts.
