Whilst I Was Out by Sara Stewart
Sara Stewart's debut novel, Whilst I Was Out, opens with all the promise of a book intent to delve head-first into invention and oddness. The narrator of the story, Alice, is stuck in traffic with her husband – who she refers to throughout the book as My Dear Husband (or MDH for short) – when he suddenly jumps out of their car and runs off for seemingly no reason. The scene opens with a mention of domestic abuse but seems much more interested in the inherent malfunction of Alice's husband as she describes his fixation with his bicycle and how her and their three children have taken a back seat to his 'finding himself' through affairs and cross-country cycling. Full review...
Our Young Man by Edmund White
New York City in the eighties, and at its decadent heart is Guy. Guy is taking on the fashion world and fast becoming the darling of the Fire Island's gay community. Fred, Andre and Pierre-Georges are all fixated on Guy, and the Dorian Gray like Guy commands their attention, whilst seemingly never aging. Still modelling at thirty-five, enjoying lavish gifts from these admirers who believe him far younger, Guy lets them believe – but then finds this way of life is destroying the men he loves. Stretching from the disco era to the age of AIDS, Edmund White explores beauty, and the power is has to enslave, fascinate and deceive. Full review...