I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS IN MY HEART RIGHT NOW FOR A LOT OF VERY PRECIOUSFICTIONAL PEOPLE

This entire book was just an emotional roller-coaster from start to finish.



I thought I just about had it together and then THE END HAPPENED




Harry Cane is just an absolutely precious protagonist who, thanks to the era and his British repressed emotions, is completely unaware of the fact that he's gay. Thus follows a BEAUTIFUL BUT HEARTBREAKING story about him finding himself, at some points in the worst way possible, and I just... he needs protecting from the world. At all costs.

Every single character was brilliantly well-crafted and the writing was so atmospheric, it felt like I was there. I laughed and cried with Harry, and made rather inhuman noises when the book was over.

Excessive emotions aside, this book is brilliant. It perfectly captured so many political and social concerns at the beginning of the twentieth century without shoving them down your throat and makes you both glad about how far we've come but also angry about how far there is left to go.

A quote from the author in the Q&A section at the end really struck a chord with me: "the story of early gay liberation is inseparable from the struggles of the Women's Movement". I think that that idea perfectly encapsulates the strongest themes and relationships/friendships in the book, particularly the relationships between Harry, Petra and Paul, and the things that go spoken and unspoken between them.

In short: READ THIS BOOK. If you are interested in historical fiction, LGBT+ fiction, or just excellent books (which you should be, you're on this site) then READ IT.