Tom Houghton

by Todd Alexander

His whole life has been a fantasy.
Who is Tom Houghton?

As a boy growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney, Tom Houghton escapes the harshness of the schoolyard by cocooning himself in the cinema of the golden age of Hollywood.

When he discovers that his favourite actress, Katharine Hepburn, modelled herself on her brother, Thomas Houghton Hepburn, Tom sinks deeper into his fantasy life. Determined to reveal his true identity to the world, Tom is propelled on a torturous path with disastrous consequences.

Almost thirty years later, Tom is offered an acting role at a festival in Scotland. With the rigours of his past finally catching up with him, fantasy and reality struggle for control and Tom finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew about himself.

‘A wonderful, touching coming-of-age novel that is raw, confronting and tender at the same time.’ Better Reading
‘As tragic, confronting, hilarious and utterly true as the best of Matt Nable and Christos Tsiolkas.’ Books and Publishing
‘Written with enormous humanity and skill, and the characters spring off the page.’ Ann Turner, author of The Lost Swimmer

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

Todd Alexander was born in 1973 and has been writing for over 20 years. His work has been published in magazines and periodicals and his first novel, Pictures of Us was published in 2006. How to Buy and Sell on eBay.com.au – The Official Pocket Guide has sold in excess of 30,000 copies.

In 2010, an advanced guide to eBay How To Make Money on eBay was published by Allen & Unwin, followed in 2011 by Why Pay Retail (also Allen & Unwin). Hachette Australia released Get Your Business Online... Now! in March 2012, followed later in the year by Every Day Internet at Any Age. 2013 marked the release of Todd’s fully comprehensive guide to The New eBay followed in 2014 by Check 100: Tips for a Successful eBay Business (both published by John Wiley).

In 2015 Todd returns to fiction, his first love, with the release of Tom Houghton (published by Simon & Schuster).

Todd has 6 years' experience as a bookseller and head office buyer and spent 12 years working at eBay, one of Australia's most recognised brands. He lives in the Hunter Valley of NSW with his partner (cat, pigs, chooks and ducks) where they run a boutique vineyard and accommodation business, Block Eight. Todd has travelled to Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. A graduate of Macquarie University, he has degrees in Modern Literature and Law.

Reviews

[Veronica ⭐️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Houghton is narrated in two time frames. One being 12 year old Tom, a loner, constantly bullied at school but be it optimism or delusion he always feels certain he is destined for greater things. He is smarter than his peers, which also sets him apart. He lives with his mother, who is devoted to him but lives on a constant cycle of highs and lows and his Grandfather who thinks that Tom’s obsession with Hollywood is unhealthy but doesn’t quite know what to do with him. The other narrator is 40 year old Tom, a stage actor and star in his own right, heading on a path of self destruction while still trying to find his place in the world.

Young Tom’s narrative is heart-breaking. You can’t help but feel endeared to him. He is highly intelligent and still has an innocence about him, a naivety. While reading this story I internet searched the photo of Thomas Houghton Hepburn that Tom refers to on occasions and, when its finally revealed, the costume that Tom is so excited about wearing to his school. These photos give such good visuals to go with the story.

The grown up Tom was very hard to like. He was nasty and a real diva constantly on a path of self destruction, destroying friendships by his insults and drunken behaviour.

The story is not full of bullying and drunken outbursts. There are some endearing moments, especially with the characters of Mal and Hanna.
Mal and Hanna would have to be my favourite characters and two very important people in Tom’s life. Mal understands young Tom and accepts him as he is. Hanna doesn’t take any nonsense from grown up Tom. She sticks by him but tells him when he has messed up. She is straight to the point and honest.

The story touches on topics of bullying, family, friendship, love, acceptance, forgiveness, the pressures of needing to conform to a society standard and how our environment when we are young has an effect on who we will be later in life.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy to read and review.

Contains limited sexual content and coarse language.

[Amanda Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Houghton by Todd Alexander was an absolute delight to read, that will pull at your heart strings. The story is told from two alternating narratives, Tom Houghton as an adult, the other himself as a 12 year old boy. Through his story as a child we come to understand how Tom became the adult he is today.

As a boy growing up in the 1980's Tom lives in the Western suburbs of Sydney with his mother and grandfather. To say that Tom's family is dysfunctional would be an understatement. He is obsessed with Hollywood particularly the Silver Screen of the Golden Age and Katherine Hepburn is his favourite actress. Tom is a lonely boy with no father, no siblings and no friends, who is struggling with his sexuality. Tom is bullied relentlessly because of not fitting into the world of football and rough housing. To cope with the stress of bullying and his home life, he spends his time cutting out pictures from magazines and cataloging all of Hollywood's Stars. He is living in a world of dreams that are reaching the point of delusion as an escapism from his heartbreaking reality. The lonelier he becomes, the more obsessed he becomes with Katherine Hepburn and what he learns about her will change Tom forever.

As a man, Tom is certainly not the beautiful young man full of optimism and hope that we met as a child. It seems in many ways the years have broken him down. He has a younger boyfriend but his insecurities and doubts about himself are destroying the relationship and all that it could be. He is a stage actor who is bitter and seems jealous of fellow colleagues accomplishments. Tom is an alcoholic and not a pleasant one at that. As such, sadly he is not reaching his full potential as either and actor or as a man.

Tom needs to revisit himself as a boy to heal the man. It is only then will he understand just who is Tom Houghton.

Alexander has written a story, that reminds us of what it is to be human and that it okay to be different. We need to learn to love ourselves and others for exactly who they are. It also never hurts to remind people that any type of bullying is never okay. It is a book I would love to see in high school libraries.

4 out of 5 stars

I would like to thank Netgalley, Todd Alexander, and Simon and Schuster Australia for a copy to read in exchange for an honest and fair review.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's not the usual type of book I would pick, however something about the blurb really drew me to it. The story alternates between the perspectives of 12 year old Tom and 40 year old Tom. I felt a lot of sympathy for 12 year old Tom and just wanted things to work out ok for him, though he didn't tend to do himself any favours. It was a struggle to like 40 year old Tom, though I loved the alternating perspective which gave insight into how Tom got to where was at age 40 and maybe explained some of his self-sabotaging behaviours. Even though I struggled to like older Tom, I did want the best for him. The book deals with a number of themes, particularly belonging, bullying and identity. I highly recommend this book. It's well-written and kept me engaged the whole way through.

[Jülie ☼♄  · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Houghton lived a very sheltered life, never knowing his father, he was raised from birth by his mum on her single income, they shared everything.
They were absolutely devoted to each other and shared a mutual love of the Arts.

Tom's Mum Lana worked three jobs on three shifts, in a butcher shop by day and a Pub by night, to try and make ends meet and give Tom the best she could.
They lived with Lana's elderly widowed father in his old house in Seven Hills, situated in the western suburbs of Sydney.

Though he lived such a sheltered life, Tom was happy and content with his lifestyle. He shared a unique kinship with his mum and a passion for the Arts and theatre. They would go every weekend to the movies to watch the classics together.
It was through these shared experiences that Tom quickly developed his enduring love for Katharine Hepburn.

Tom spent most of his night time hours alone while his mother was at work, either reading his beloved movie magazines or keeping his extensive movie star files up to date.
This was his favourite pastime and kept him happily occupied for all of his spare time, documenting and filing newfound information about popular movie stars onto cards which were neatly kept in large shoe boxes beneath his bed...."New stationery gave me a feeling of purpose."
At age twelve he was already a font of knowledge regarding the movie world...but his enduring passion was for the silver screen and one lady in particular...Katharine Hepburn...whom he idolized and who's life he researched exhaustively.
It was during one of these night time forays into his most prized book of Katharine Hepburn's biography that Tom discovered a huge...and for him...life changing piece of detail.

Although Tom was content with his home life and his lot, he was a loner at school with no friends, and suffered taunts from the school bullies. This only served to make him retreat further into himself and his insular world of movie stars.
He had no idea why he was so unpopular or why the other kids bullied him. He couldn't understand their taunts or why he was excluded. He was very smart but very naive, and so he just accepted his lot and kept to himself.
It was only when a new boy started at his school and Tom was charged with the role of being his chaperone, that he allowed himself to entertain some private enjoyment at the prospects of a possible friendship...could this finally be his own real friend? Was he equipped with the requisite social skills to entertain such possibilities?

Lana also, often struggled with her own demons but tried hard to make sure that Tom had a happy life. She did her best to shelter him from any worries or harm.
Tom always got good grades at school and was very smart and very mature for a boy of twelve, trying hard to be equally supportive for his mum.

The story moves through two different timeframes of Tom's life, relating the course of his life as he grows, switching between his youth and his sadly naive and blundering progression into adulthood, finally merging into his catharsis in late adulthood.

The more I read of this book, the more I needed to keep reading. It was like reading a biography...or almost like watching a movie played out on paper.
.....it rings true, and is all the more poignant and compelling for that.

It is Raw in it's honesty, and must surely have been a cathartic journey for the author? It reads like a biography.
I was both deeply moved, and deeply disturbed by this story...because it is a reminder of just how easily things can go wrong...even with the best intentions. Nothing in this life can be taken for granted, and sadly for some, not even the simplest of things can afford such risk.

There are many quotes I loved in this book but too many to include here, however one very important message at the very end of the book must be reinforced here....

"If you’re being bullied, talk to someone you can trust, or if that feels too much, talk to your GP or conduct internet searches about professional options and foundations that can help. To bury it is to drown beneath it –it needs to be discussed and exposed. Never give up hope that the future can deliver wonderfully exciting changes to life and even your darkest days will have light in them once more. I acknowledge that I have been guilty of demeaning others. It is not acceptable and I wish I’d had the maturity, sensitivity and foresight then to be more conscious of its impact, for it would never have occurred. If you are a witness to bullying and do nothing to prevent it, you are just as culpable as those who bully."

Thank you Todd Alexander for sharing this story.

Read this book!
Commendable 5★s

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy to read and review.

Quotes I liked too much to leave out:

"At times I thought I’d quite happily exchange my life for hers but I knew she’d rather wilt within expectation than die by footlight."

"My eyes skipped ahead to grab snippets from further down the page, then darted back like frightened fish to try to absorb what was on the line in front of me."

"I sat in that hospital ward next to my vacant mother and all I knew was that Lana had all but disappeared and in her place was someone pretending to be her, a not-very-good actress who kept forgetting my mother’s lines."

"Don’t you need a licence to own a dog these days? Yet any pair of fuckwits can rub funnies and create a child and to hell with what that means for the poor kid’s future.’"

"Why live in fear of might be rather than in awe of it?"

"the expectation of privilege can be just as suffocating as the perceived doom of suburbia."

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Houghton is the second novel by Australian bookseller and author, Todd Alexander. At age forty, Tom Houghton is a stage actor, gay, alcoholic and occasionally dealing with a mentally fragile mother. A fairly successful run of a gender-reversed version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf sees him offered the same role for the play’s run in the Edinburgh. This experience, and the people he meets seem to precipitate a drunken meltdown in which he alienates many around him. It has him deeply considering his life, and just who he has become.

At the age of twelve, Tom Houghton is accustomed to being bullied at school: he’s not like the other boys, and in the late eighties in Seven Hills, NSW, this is not tolerated. Tom lives with his mum, Lana (Trish) and his grandfather, Pa, deftly hiding any sign of the bullying from them. His passion, indulged and even encouraged by Lana, is movie stars, in particular Katharine Hepburn. When he discovers that he was born on the same day as her brother Tom, his interest becomes an obsession. His attempts to win over his tormentors are doomed to fail, and lead him to drastic action.

Alexander uses a double narrative to tell this moving, thought-provoking and apparently largely autobiographical tale. Tom at twelve draws the reader’s sympathy; a self-centred, self-indulgent Tom at forty, much less so. But Alexander certainly highlights the destructive power of bullying, and the importance of being accepted. A powerful read.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a child growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney, Tom Houghton was an innocent boy with an obsession with classic cinema; an obsession that he inherited from his grandmother. His favourite actor was Katherine Hepburn. As a man who just turned 40 years old, Tom Houghton is a completely different person, bitter and jaded with the world. Tom Houghton is an exciting new coming of age story from Todd Alexander.

Told from the two different stages of life (twelve and forty) Tom Houghton offers an interesting look into this character’s life. I suspect that the book is semi-autobiographical but I found this a well-developed characterisation. I was particularly interested to see just how much Tom has changed over the years. In fact, this often felt like two different people.

As this novel progresses, events start to hint at what makes Tom the person he is today. I am always fascinated by the way the world shapes people. Particularly if society turns people evil (ever since reading Frankenstein), or in this case, making people jaded. There is so much that could be pulled out if I had a psychology background but as a novice, I just enjoyed the direction this novel took.

I was sent this book by the publisher with a note saying that they thought I would enjoy it. I am glad I listened and picked this book up because it was right up my alley. Tom Houghton reminds me a bit of the writing of Christos Tsiolkas, albeit a much tamer novel. I do hope that Todd Alexander writers more novels like this, I will be eager to pick up another.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-rev...

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘It’s funny how art and friendships so seldom mix.’

In 1986, Tom Houghton is a twelve year old boy, growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney with his mother and grandfather. Tom is sufficiently different from most of the other boys to be an irresistible target to bullies. Tom’s escape from reality involves immersing himself in the golden age of Hollywood cinema. Tom reads biographies about the stars, and has made his own catalogue of different actors and their roles.

His grandfather encourages him to realise that there’s more to life than Hollywood, but it’s easier for Tom to escape reality than to confront it. Sadly, his mother provides a near perfect role model for escapism. When Tom discovers that Katharine Hepburn, his favourite actress, modelled herself on her brother Thomas Houghton Hepburn, his imagination runs wild. Thomas Houghton Hepburn hanged himself in 1921, but Tom Houghton thinks that if he can invent a new identity for himself he’ll find success. Surely his detractors will change their opinion of him? Can Tom find success in this way?

‘I was about to become the real Thomas Houghton.’

In 2014, aged forty, Tom Houghton is offered an acting role in Scotland. Can Tom make the most of this opportunity? Can he escape his past, and the consequences of some of his choices? What has Tom Houghton made of his life? Where does Tom Houghton fit into the world?

‘The Tom Houghton you thought you were never existed.’

I had very mixed feelings reading this novel. I did not like Tom Houghton, but I felt sorry for him. I kept hoping that he would gain some insight, come to terms with himself and realize his potential. Mr Alexander has done a wonderful job of creating Tom Houghton as a complicated character. He’s not (at least, not to me) heroic and he doesn’t often take responsibility for his actions or their consequences but he is human and very vulnerable. How much of life is predetermined by fate? How much is governed by experience and opportunity?

I didn’t like Tom Houghton, but I wondered which personification of Tom Houghton I was reacting to. Was it the child, retreating from the bullies, building barriers to his success while protecting himself? Was it the insecure adult trying to protect himself from failure? Was it the boy and then the man trying to come to terms with his sexuality?

So, who is Tom Houghton?

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Rowena Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully immersive novel about facing up to who you are, and who you are not, Tom Houghton will keep you reading late into the night.

At twelve Tom Houghton knows he is different and embraces it. When his peers are playing footy Tom is inside building his catalogue of movie stars and reading biographies. At forty, Tom has channelled that difference into acting, yet he is less sure of who he really is now than he was at twelve; he’s become more difficult than different and the cracks are beginning to show. How did he become what he is today and can he change before he alienates everyone he loves?

Tom Houghton had my attention from the very first paragraph. I wanted to know more about this man and his demons, and the novel only deepened my interest when Tom takes up the narrative as a twelve year old.

The book alternates between young Tom and Tom at forty. Alexander never slips into the trap of an older Tom imposing his insights onto his younger self, but presents younger Tom’s chapters from the precocious twelve-year old’s point of view. Young Tom is insecure and witty in ways that make other kids see him as weird and some enjoy tormenting him because of it. As an adult Tom is a complex mix of insecurity, rudeness, lust and wit, and the interplay between him and his friend Hanna in the opening scene sets the tone for his adult years. Adult Tom can be a bit of a diva, snippy and calculating. There were a couple of moments early in the novel when I worried he was heading down a path of caricature. He never does. And it becomes apparent that he’s playing that role as much as any other. Pa, Lana and Tom are multi-layered and complex, and though we get very little of Pa there is enough for us to guess. Some of the family dysfunction is shown but much is left to the reader to deduce, and I think this is why the story is so immersive. Tom Houghton is about a boy’s search for identity and how his longing for escape and a lost family connection shape his choices—choices that have repercussions well into maturity. What’s in a name? In Tom’s case, quite a lot.

I absolutely loved this novel. The writing is skillful and subtle and the characterisation is brilliant. Tom Houghton is the perfect way to lose yourself for a few hours. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Australia for an ARC of Tom Houghton.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so very fortunate to have received an advance copy of this, at the request of the author himself.

[ This review was originally posted on my blog: http://turnherintoliterature.tumblr.com/ ]

(This is the unedited version of a review I wrote during my time at Better Reading.)

Why we love it: The more we got to know Tom Houghton, the more we liked him, even in spite of his faults. Cleverly crafted and with characters that walk straight off the page, Todd Alexander's second novel is a masterpiece of self-discovery.

Tom Houghton grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney, the only child of a single mother who worked bar shifts to make ends meet. They lived with his grandfather who often looked after him, but never really seemed to understand the little boy who loved to collect silver screen memorabilia. Highly intelligent and confused about his sexuality, Tom becomes the prime target for bullying at his school. He retreats into a fantasy world of old Hollywood, inspired by his mother naming him after Katharine Hepburn's beloved brother.

As an adult, his only close relationships are his best friend Hanna and his daughter Lexi. His mother Lana and lover Damon make cameo appearances but seem uninterested in the details of his life. But who really is Tom Houghton?

The story shifts seamlessly between the past and present, 12-year-old Tom's narrative vying for the spotlight beside the present-day Tom, aged 40. Faced with the chance to act in a prestigious Scottish festival, Tom must try to repair his broken relationships, especially with Lexi, and ultimately come to terms with his bad behaviour and drinking.The true charm in this novel lies in Todd Alexander's narrative style. By keeping 12-year-old Tom's outlook free of his 40-year-old hindsight, we are able to see what has turned him into the bitter sometime-diva he has become. While the adult Tom is far less likeable than his younger self, by the end of the novel we have a greater understanding of his life, and we are able to cheer him on as he takes a step towards a brighter future, one that he ultimately deserves.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

*DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

The thing that stood out most for me while reading Tom Houghton was the realness of it, and there’s an intimacy to it that comes from being able to look so closely at a person’s life from the perspective of both their childhood and adulthood – that I think makes Tom Houghton quite a confronting book to read.

We move between two narratives, beginning with Tom as an adult and then shifting to him as a twelve year old. I found the narrative following older Tom fairly inconsequential, and as a character I didn’t like him that much. Having said that, the way he is, is a direct result of the what happens in the narrative of young Tom and what he experienced as a child. In a promotional video for the book, the author, Todd Alexander, says:

“What happens to you as a kid, indelibly impacts who you turn into as an adult, and that at it’s core is what this book is about. People are very complex. Lying just beneath the veneer of the people we’re very quick to judge, is an entire history of a person, and that history has shaped who they are today. And if we can empathise with that history and understand them just that little bit better, then our relationships will improve immeasurably.” (YouTube)

As a twelve year old Tom is confused about his sexuality; highly intelligent; and is apart from his classmates in all ways possible. He is a loner, and his makes him an easy target for bullying. In order to escape reality, he immerses himself in a fantasy world built on the golden era of Hollywood. which Alexander says only acts to “solidify his position as social outcast”.

If I’d read a book about Tom that only showed him as an adult, I would probably hate him as a character. But the juxtaposition of his adult life with his childhood probably makes me feel sympathy towards him more than anything else. Young Tom knew who he was and who he wanted to be, and was determined to show that person to the world. As a character, he is the perfect example of how society can often make us turn away from the person the we want to be, and instead become something we feel we are expected to be. We are forced to conform, and even if we don’t entirely conform, we are bound to lose something of our real self in the process.

Tom Houghton is a sad and sobering reminder of how more often than not, being different – which we are always told is ok to be – can lead to being made a target and the impacts this can have later in life.

[Jo-Ann Duff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Houghton is twelve years old. He is different and the others know it. Some tiptoe around it, whisper loudly about it, some bully him mercilessly, and very few embrace him for it.

Fast forward to Tom Houghton at forty. The book unfolds as we wind our way through time; from that little boy growing up in 70’s Sydney, to Tom’s adult life, which has become an extraordinarily fucked up mess.

Very few books give me a book hangover, and I had not found a book this year which I fully immersed myself in. Tom Houghton is that book. The prose is so detailed and offers up the delicate scents, nuances and body language which places you in Toms world, a world that is tough, chaotic and a confusing place to be at times.

Do you ever let your mind wander back to childhood? Those times when the kids at school were incredibly mean to you and the memory stings to recall? The dread of going to school and waking in the morning to icy cold fingers around your heart, making you feel heavy, scared and full of dread? Do you ever think back to a time when you were nothing short of spiteful to a loved one and you lurch a little with shame? This book, be warned, will bring those feelings back; pricking at your conscience as you turn the pages and live Tom’s story along with your own.

Tom Houghton is incredibly raw and sad to read at times, but it is equally compelling and not all doom and gloom. The friendship between adult Tom and his friend Hanna is quick witted, smart and sarcastic. There are loving, warm moments too, along with the madness which every family deals with.

Ultimately I wanted to cuddle little Tom Houghton, take him for a Milo and tell him he could be whoever he wanted to be, but that it was fine to just be himself too. I was glad he was fictional and didnt have to deal with the tough moments that far too many kids have to put up with.

Clever, raw, and heartbreakingly sad at times. Tom Houghton will give you a soulful book hangover.

Pick so far for 2015 5 out of 5 stars.

Release October 2015 - Pre Order from Book Depository

[Tony Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing and well written story of a boy who is bullied and in turn at times torments others. Complicated by a wrestle with sexual identity and personal confusion, this is an interesting read. The story is told through the eyes of the eponymous star alternatively as a boy and a man

Obsessed with his namesake, he makes bad decisions, lives and struggles with them, ultimately getting some sort of equilibrium ( well of a sort)

This is a very readable novel with truly competent writing and recommended.

Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read an advance copy.

[Mrchristoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real surprise, I wasn’t sure if I’d like this one, but found it strangely compelling. It is slow to start, and it took me about 100 pages or so before I really cared one way or another what happened to the central character. But after that I was hooked and it kept getting better right to the end.

Many reviewers, even one on the back cover of the book itself, compare this book to the the works of Christos Tsiolkas. I guess both have gay, male, messed up Australian protagonists - but didn’t find this book as provocative as Tsiolkas, and Tsiolkas is the better author of the two. Still a good read though. Great cover too. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover., but why would anyone do that anyway? A good cover just interests you enough to read the book, and it did do that.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written powerful read which both moved me and disturbed me. The story is about 12 year old Tom (who I really felt sorry for) and 40 year old Tom (who I found hard to like) and it covered bullying, dysfunctional family dynamics, mental health issues and identity issues.

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Houghton has a gorgeous sparkly cover, but don’t start thinking that the inside is going to be all sparkly and gorgeous. The cover hides a story with a dual narrative (and what a sucker I am for those) that’s all about the same character, in his childhood and as an adult in the present day. If you’re a Katharine Hepburn fan, you might be familiar with the name Tom Houghton. (If you’re a huge Hepburn fan, you might even have an inkling about why silver sequins are on the cover). But this is not about Katharine’s brother, Tom Houghton Hepburn. This is about young Tom Houghton, a lonely boy from Sydney’s suburbs who is bright, unique and desperate to fit in. Yet he revels in his differences, refusing to budge until he’s broken down by a group of callous boys.

As an adult, Tom is an actor and his life is going in circles. He’s pretty sure that his boyfriend is just using him as free rent and he’s just made a complete idiotic fool of himself drunk at a party. His mother, isn’t doing too much better. Adult Tom appears to be in a cycle of self-destruction and he doesn’t really feel the need initially to break out of it. There will always be a friend to help him. This is in contrast to young Tom, who has very, very few friends. I found the young Tom charming in his eccentricity and determination (he has his own catalogue of movie stars in index cards with pertinent information) but I didn’t like adult Tom at all.

I longed for the sections on Tom as a child – he’s raw and honest with the reader in a way that I don’t see very often in fiction targeted at adults. Tom is curious, scared, and desperate for a friend and someone to love. He doesn’t get that much at school or at home. His attempts to stand out, while clearly rooted in failure (you just know his Hollywood outfit will end in tears), are endearing. All child Tom is doing is trying to reach for the stars. If he believes he’s almost the reimagining of his favourite movie star’s brother, well, it’s just something else to like about him. Unfortunately kids his own age don’t see it that say and Tom trying to fend them off in various ways is painful to read as is the bullying.

Adult Tom is selfish and lazy. There’s very little of that young boy left in him. I couldn’t care too much for what happened to him – in fact, I was angry and embarrassed at the way he treated characters close to him. What happened in the intervening years to ruin this young man? Piece by piece, the story is told. And likewise, glimpses of young Tom are seen in adult Tom. I would have liked a more detailed explanation of what happened to Tom in his teenage years, but maybe I’m just a nosy reader. I just wanted to make sure that young Tom was okay and hopefully try to put him back on the rails before he became bitter.

As you can tell, Todd Alexander creates memorable characters that you will care deeply for (or absolutely detest if they’re the ones hassling young Tom). The story is engaging and the pages flew by. I think the story would have worked just as well for me if it me if it was just about child Tom but in retrospect, perhaps we need to see adult Tom to see how childhood trauma can define your adult years.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the eARC. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

[Graeme Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some readers may remember an earlier novel from Todd Alexander - 'Pictures of Us' - published back in 2006. Now almost a decade later, Todd has a new novel out and it has certainly been worth the wait. Tom Houghton explores the titular character at different ages, although there is more focus on Tom as a 12-year-old schoolboy, who is obsessed with Hollywood films and film stars. He utterly fails to fit in with the other boys at school and hides from them during recess, occupying himself by reading his Hollywood magazines. The 40-year-old that Tom morphs into is not an especially likable character. He’s an actor who turns vicious and self-destructive when he drinks too much – which he does rather often!

However, young Tom is a more endearing character for the reader and gay readers are especially likely to feel a real affinity with him. Young Tom’s particular obsession is with Katherine Hepburn - he owns 26 of her films on video and has watched them all three times! Then while reading a biography of Hepburn, he learns that her mother’s name was Houghton and that his grandmother actually met the movie star when she was touring Australia. As if this connection wasn’t enough, he then discovers Katherine had a brother called Tom who killed himself as a teenager and that he and Tom not only share the same name, but also a birthday. Young Tom becomes absolutely obsessed with Thomas Houghton Hepburn and convinced of a special connection between the two of them. He writes to Katherine Hepburn, and begins to plan a very special costume for a theme day at school assembly. He becomes convinced that his costume and his connection to Thomas Houghton will completely transform his status at school. Instead of being the boy who is teased and bullied, he imagines that finally everyone will understand how very special he truly is.

This is a very accomplished and captivating new Australian novel. The storyline about Katherine Hepburn’s brother will be unknown to the many readers who aren’t great fans and it is fascinating. But the way Hollywood-obsessed young Tom latches onto this is also beautifully developed and rings utterly true. The bullying that Tom endures at school and which culminates at the novel’s climax is also brutally authentic. Another highlight of the novel is the complexity of the characters. Even young Tom has his flaws and three decades later, he has some serious issues! But many of the characters surrounding Tom are equally well developed, all too human in their flaws and not especially likeable. Although the coming of age story is standard fare in gay literature, Todd Alexander’s version has many unconventional moments and is almost wholly unsentimental. This is to his credit and his novel is all the more powerful for taking that approach.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escaping the school yard bullying and the dramas of home, young Tom Houghton turns to golden age of Hollywood cinema. Whereas older Tom Houghton has turned 40, is starring in a gender role reversal of ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’ and struggling with his identity.
I was provided with a copy from NetGalley for a review.
I was pleasantly surprised by this novel and its complexity. The story is told by 12 year old Tom ad 40 year old Tom and the cross over in narrative is easy to follow. Older Tom at 40 is a mess, he has no self-worth, is prone to acts of self-destruction and is trying to maintain a relationship with his daughter. The younger Tom is self-obsessed, highly intelligent and fixated on being something better than the school bullies. As you move between the viewpoint of young and old Tom both voices are engaging. It is younger Tom’s story that really comes to the fore and that you connect with as his social awkwardness and lack of awareness to his situation is endearing. You really feel for him as you know that a certain disaster is coming his way.
The characters that surround both Toms are wonderfully constructed. His mother Lana is a contradiction and an ongoing influence in Tom’s life. On one hand she is a beautiful caring mother on the other she is an emotional wreck. She will spend days in bed, brings men home and is unable to cope with the curveballs life throws at her. The children that Tom are terrorised by are awful in their attempts to belittle him. What they do is heart wrenching and vicious.
The older Tom is an interesting character, less likeable and you have little sympathy for the many mistakes he makes. He is an unlikeable and with very few redeeming qualities. As you reflect on what has made older Tom who is, you begin to develop a level of sympathy. There are a couple times when Tom almost becomes a clichéd homosexual drama queen but thankfully this is not allowed to happen. Tom’s daughter Lexie is interesting and provides a nice counterpoint as it is for her he tries to be a decent person. Their interactions provide the best understanding of who Tom is and the difficulties he is trying to overcome.
It would be easy to say that Tom Houghton is novel about the difficulties of being accepted for who we are but also learning to accept how to trust others. Yet there is a greater level of intricacy about relationships, love, acceptance, understanding and forgiveness. That these things are difficult to obtain and even more difficult to accept when they are being offered to you. I really enjoyed the novel and the two worlds that are captured.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book. It was a bit of a slow burn for me. By the time I got to the end I was hooked. Some may bemoan its lack of 'bitchy' witticisms. But this book was never going to have that. It is really about the process of belonging, how that can go wrong for a person and the veneer we use to disguise the pain associated with that. So it would not have made sense to have it full of such witticisms, as I think they would have detracted from the ultimate story and render the main character nothing more than a stereotype and narrow the appeal of the story.

It was a wonderful study of the contagion that is bullying and uncivil behaviour; the impact that can have on our self-esteem; what we might learn from it and the pain of not belonging within our chosen peer group at a time in our life when we are making our first teenage steps away from our family group towards a different network. I'm sure anyone who has ever felt that alienation and aloneness that comes from bullying would identify with what young Tom went through and the lasting effect of it in his adult life.

It also explores how our social inexperience at such a tender stage in our life can often mean we misinterpret situations, events and people; how we may be choosing the wrong peer group to immerse ourselves in, and how important our family is in providing a buffer against this as we begin our move inevitably out of its orbit.

Without the story of his childhood years, grown-up Tom is quite pathetic. But young Tom humanises him and makes him understandable and worthy of our sympathy. That's an important aspect of this tale, we all have our story about how we got to where we are today, and this book is an excellent portrayal of that.

[Chloe Stam · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Tom Houghton" by Todd Alexander portrays a complex and deeply flawed character unable to shake off the experiences of a miserable childhood and broken, unstable family. In his early school years Tom Houghton dives into his imagination, his concept of his own identity becoming part-fantasy, to the detriment of the reality around him. Todd Alexander did not shy away from exploring the messy aspects of human nature, including our awkward sexual awakenings and the mistakes we make over and over despite our knowledge of the consequences. Love is complicated in this story and we often hurt the ones we love through plain old instinctual selfishness. The only thing that stopped me from giving this a higher rating was that I found the ending a bit abrupt and lacking in resolution. The object of Tom's fantasy also is a little far-fetched, but I tried not to let that enter too far into my judgment, as they are the far-fetched dreams and thoughts of a child, and I am far from that in my reading.

[Alistair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Houghton grows from a troubled boyhood to a troubled adult. He tries (successfully) to hide the bullying at school from his mother, Lana (after Turner : real name Trish), who has "spirals" of her own - usually leading to a spell in psychiatric care. To obliterate his soul destroying school life, and the frequent absences of Lana, Tom escapes into a fantasy world of Hollywood, and in particular Katharine Hepburn, who, coincidentally, had a brother named Tom Houghton Hepburn, who committed suicide aged sixteen. Because of their names Tom feels connected to Katharine and believes them to be related.
Flash forward almost thirty years and Tom is now a moderately successful actor who has just been invited to perform at a Scottish festival. Unfortunately it is in Scotland that his life spins out of control, largely due to his unacknowledged alcoholism, of which The Reader has known for some time. It's a pity some of the passion and raw emotion wasn't in the first half of the novel.

[Irene Brouwer · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I received this ARC via Netgallery in exchange for an honest review*

Honestly, it's not as if this was horrible or anything, it just didn't really capture my attention or interest me very greatly. I feel bad reviewing this based only on the third or so of it I read, because generally I try to give fair reviews based on entire books, but the fact I was basically forcing myself to get through this speaks for itself.
I was also rather disappointed in the lack of Australian-ness about it. I love Aussie fiction because it makes such a nice change from international (ie. mostly American) spellings and slang and settings and I can recognise the sense of 'home'. But here the Australian landscape and colloquialisms were completely, and sadly, absent.
In the end, I just did not get what I was hoping for from this.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific book. I found it hard to put down. Tom Houghton tells his own story in two time frames. One when he is 12 and the other when he is 40. At 12 he is enamoured by film and finds a "special connection" with Katherine Hepburn. Through his single and battler mother, we see immense love in the midst of social and emotional dysfunction. He struggles with his sexuality and because he is "different", he is bullied at school. (These scenes are quite heart-wrenching). At 40 he has an established acting career and is living a gay life in theatrical circles. As the narrative switches, by chapter, from 12 to 40, we see how his life at 12 shaped what he is at 40. Great Australian fiction, set in Seven Hills in western Sydney. Among the best books I've read this year.

[Libby Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a bit of Tom Houghton in all of us, which is what makes this stunning novel by Todd Alexander a must read. Self absorbed, self destructive, yet incredibly resilient in spite of several disturbing emotional and physical events in his childhood, Tom holds up a mirror to the reader to examine their own attitudes and defense mechanisms. Alexander is a gifted storyteller which enables him to deftly weave even the most confronting and uncomfortable events into this engrossing and hard-to-forget tale.

[Graham Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a bad book - just not appealing to me. The main character is real enough - just not likeable. The first person prose style is unsophisticated bordering on the suburban. For this novel to work for me, I'd have needed more bitchy wit from the evil old queen protagonist -- or at least a wiser narrative sense hovering above the petty actions of the story teller. I suspect it's the sort of book that will find good friends in the gay lit ghetto but it's not quite there for me as a "good read.

[Inez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving and tragic story about finding out (the hard way) who you really are. Fast paced and vivid characters. The gritty details adds realism that makes reading their suffering even more intense. Tom will linger in my memory for years to come.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended to people who enjoy Christos Tsiolkas!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to follow closer to publication date.

[Eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected but pleasantly surprised. A talented new Australian author.