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The Aerodynamics of Pork: A delicious debut novel of love, music and comedy, set in the early 1980s
THE AERODYNAMICS OF PORK is an irresistible novel of love, music and comedy -'A master storyteller' Independent on Sunday'Gale's concoction is modern relationships with period charm' Armistead MaupinSeth, a musical prodigy on the eve of his sixteenth birthday, is obsessed with sex and with the men he might meet, as well as with his strange family - his arch mother, his beautiful sister, and his damaged, distant father. Mo, a policewoman struggling with moral dilemmas and her sexuality in the violent, bigoted police force of the 1980s, wants only to find romance. In this haunting tale of self discovery and hidden identities, Mo and Seth will connect to face unexpected truths about themselves, and those they have chosen to love.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1985
20 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Gale
42 books713 followersPatrick was born on 31 January 1962 on the Isle of Wight, where his father was prison governor at Camp Hill, as his grandfather had been at nearby Parkhurst. He was the youngest of four; one sister, two brothers, spread over ten years. The family moved to London, where his father ran Wandsworth Prison, then to Winchester. At eight Patrick began boarding as a Winchester College Quirister at the cathedral choir school, Pilgrim's. At thirteen he went on to Winchester College. He finished his formal education with an English degree from New College, Oxford in 1983.
He has never had a grown-up job. For three years he lived at a succession of addresses, from a Notting Hill bedsit to a crumbling French chateau. While working on his first novels he eked out his slender income with odd jobs; as a typist, a singing waiter, a designer's secretary, a ghost-writer for an encyclopedia of the musical and, increasingly, as a book reviewer.
His first two novels, The Aerodynamics of Pork and Ease were published by Abacus on the same day in June 1986. The following year he moved to Camelford near the north coast of Cornwall and began a love affair with the county that has fed his work ever since.
He now lives in the far west, on a farm near Land's End with his husband, Aidan Hicks. There they raise beef cattle and grow barley. Patrick is obsessed with the garden they have created in what must be one of England's windiest sites and deeply resents the time his writing makes him spend away from working in it. As well as gardening, he plays both the modern and baroque cello. His chief extravagance in life is opera tickets.
He has never had a grown-up job. For three years he lived at a succession of addresses, from a Notting Hill bedsit to a crumbling French chateau. While working on his first novels he eked out his slender income with odd jobs; as a typist, a singing waiter, a designer's secretary, a ghost-writer for an encyclopedia of the musical and, increasingly, as a book reviewer.
His first two novels, The Aerodynamics of Pork and Ease were published by Abacus on the same day in June 1986. The following year he moved to Camelford near the north coast of Cornwall and began a love affair with the county that has fed his work ever since.
He now lives in the far west, on a farm near Land's End with his husband, Aidan Hicks. There they raise beef cattle and grow barley. Patrick is obsessed with the garden they have created in what must be one of England's windiest sites and deeply resents the time his writing makes him spend away from working in it. As well as gardening, he plays both the modern and baroque cello. His chief extravagance in life is opera tickets.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
January 10, 2026
Gale Project #2
This was actually Gale's first novel to be written but was only published subsequent to Ease, so I mistakenly read that one first (I intended to go in chron. order!) Makes no huge difference, although I can see why the publisher choose the other work to put out first, as it was more to mainstream tastes - so naturally I preferred THIS one!
The story revolves around two main threads - the eccentric Peake family, especially violin prodigy son Seth, who is approaching his 16th birthday and going through all the foibles of coming out. The other main thread concerns lesbian policewoman Mo, also approaching HER BD, and on the case of a bizarre burglar who only steals astrological predictions of an impending holocaust. The two threads DO eventually come together in a quite miraculous and surprising way, with the final sentence wrapping things up very nicely indeed!
Even though this early work might not seem to be as polished and accomplished as Gale's later work, it does contain quite a few extremely well-done and lovely set pieces, and I swooned over how romantic many of these scenes were.
This was actually Gale's first novel to be written but was only published subsequent to Ease, so I mistakenly read that one first (I intended to go in chron. order!) Makes no huge difference, although I can see why the publisher choose the other work to put out first, as it was more to mainstream tastes - so naturally I preferred THIS one!
The story revolves around two main threads - the eccentric Peake family, especially violin prodigy son Seth, who is approaching his 16th birthday and going through all the foibles of coming out. The other main thread concerns lesbian policewoman Mo, also approaching HER BD, and on the case of a bizarre burglar who only steals astrological predictions of an impending holocaust. The two threads DO eventually come together in a quite miraculous and surprising way, with the final sentence wrapping things up very nicely indeed!
Even though this early work might not seem to be as polished and accomplished as Gale's later work, it does contain quite a few extremely well-done and lovely set pieces, and I swooned over how romantic many of these scenes were.
October 3, 2025
I thought this was a lovely novel so I am going to provide some lovely things others said about it for my review:
THE AERODYNAMICS OF PORK - an irresistible story of love, sexuality, music and comedy - was his first novel published in 1986:
'A master storyteller' Independent on Sunday
'Gale's concoction is irresistible: modern relationships with period charm' Armistead Maupin
Seth, a musical prodigy on the eve of his sixteenth birthday, is obsessed with sex and with the men he might meet, as well as with his strange family - his arch mother, his beautiful sister, and his damaged, distant father.
Mo, a policewoman struggling with moral dilemmas and her sexuality in the corrupt and bigoted police force of the 1980s, wants only to find romance.
In this haunting tale of self discovery and hidden identities, Mo and Seth will connect to face unexpected truths about themselves, and those they have chosen to love.
What readers loved about Patrick Gale's early novel:
'As with all of Patrick Gale books I love this one. For his first novel it's a little gem' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I read this when it first came out, and as a young gay man it was also when I first came out. It seemed touching and sweet and impossibly romantic and I desperately wanted to live in its world. Years pass and I'm a bit old and grizzled. It's a period piece now (how young, how naive we all once were) but it remains its lovely self with its sweet humanism at its heart' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
THE AERODYNAMICS OF PORK - an irresistible story of love, sexuality, music and comedy - was his first novel published in 1986:
'A master storyteller' Independent on Sunday
'Gale's concoction is irresistible: modern relationships with period charm' Armistead Maupin
Seth, a musical prodigy on the eve of his sixteenth birthday, is obsessed with sex and with the men he might meet, as well as with his strange family - his arch mother, his beautiful sister, and his damaged, distant father.
Mo, a policewoman struggling with moral dilemmas and her sexuality in the corrupt and bigoted police force of the 1980s, wants only to find romance.
In this haunting tale of self discovery and hidden identities, Mo and Seth will connect to face unexpected truths about themselves, and those they have chosen to love.
What readers loved about Patrick Gale's early novel:
'As with all of Patrick Gale books I love this one. For his first novel it's a little gem' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I read this when it first came out, and as a young gay man it was also when I first came out. It seemed touching and sweet and impossibly romantic and I desperately wanted to live in its world. Years pass and I'm a bit old and grizzled. It's a period piece now (how young, how naive we all once were) but it remains its lovely self with its sweet humanism at its heart' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
February 28, 2013
Iris Murdoch-lite
December 1, 2016
This book did not live up to its early promise. I have to agree with critics even about the over-written bit with some sentences so carefully crafted that the flow is lost in the self-conscious artistry. But apparently the author was young back then, I suppose I would give his work another try although I didn't end up liking how this one unfolded.
It starts off with two clear protagonists. One a young boy returning from school. He is 15 and plays a violin. He is reading a dirty magazine and thinking about sex. The other is a police woman, hurt by the misogyny of her profession, also wedged between feelings of loyalty for less privileged classes and the job which she is good a, but which sometimes conflicts with her sense of what is right. As the chapters continue it becomes clear that the boy is gay and that the police woman is a lesbian. There is no apparent connection between them.
The boy's family is full of a sort of air of tragedy and pointless business to hide (under very cultured tastes) a sort of moral vacuum where nothing matters except being seen to patronise the arts. There's church music, and sculpture and cakes and looking down on people with cockney accents. He has a sister who seems troubled, she projects a sophisticated identity so hard at people that you just know something is going to crumble (and it does). I found their wealthy lack of purpose irritating and their feelings of superiority crass. Along comes Roly and seduces Seth and initially calls into question the privileged lifestyle but it transpires that he is a sort of patronised parasite himself anyway.
Similarly the police officer Mo, begins to question the "system" (and falls in love with a petty criminal...a very petty one) and decides to be subversive. But she does not really strike a blow for fairness or anything like that she just pilfers things and indulges in small lies. Once again pointless and privileged. I am prepared to try o consider that her "transgressions" are politically motivated but they just look selfish and childish (perhaps because we see Seth more than her, quite possibly because the author identifies with Seth to some degree...or at least when I unbalancedly tend to write one POV it's because that is the character I identify with).
There are some puzzling things, like the criminal that Mo catches by the end of the book (I am not sure if the book led me to the conclusion or if I guessed it but she stumbles on it). The insanity of the perpetrator of the crimes (or possible visionary sanity), coupled with the insanity of Evelyn (who midway through the book believes a virgin birth is about to happen, despite supposedly being a very sophisticated and cosmopolitan woman), the mysterious scent of roses when one of the problems in the book abruptly and unaccountably fixes itself....more than a leap of suspended disbelief is asked for in a book that in other ways is grittily realistic.
Anyway a crazy book, a book to challenge. I liked that it was written to subvert the "romance genre". I didn't mind how separate the two threads were almost the whole way through (and barely touched at the end at which point I wanted to smack Evelyn and her patronising views). I liked that the sex scenes were intimate but not graphic.
It had some merit but more flaws. If you are a curious person who reads widely then this short thing is worth having a crack at...the pages mostly turn themselves at least.
It starts off with two clear protagonists. One a young boy returning from school. He is 15 and plays a violin. He is reading a dirty magazine and thinking about sex. The other is a police woman, hurt by the misogyny of her profession, also wedged between feelings of loyalty for less privileged classes and the job which she is good a, but which sometimes conflicts with her sense of what is right. As the chapters continue it becomes clear that the boy is gay and that the police woman is a lesbian. There is no apparent connection between them.
The boy's family is full of a sort of air of tragedy and pointless business to hide (under very cultured tastes) a sort of moral vacuum where nothing matters except being seen to patronise the arts. There's church music, and sculpture and cakes and looking down on people with cockney accents. He has a sister who seems troubled, she projects a sophisticated identity so hard at people that you just know something is going to crumble (and it does). I found their wealthy lack of purpose irritating and their feelings of superiority crass. Along comes Roly and seduces Seth and initially calls into question the privileged lifestyle but it transpires that he is a sort of patronised parasite himself anyway.
Similarly the police officer Mo, begins to question the "system" (and falls in love with a petty criminal...a very petty one) and decides to be subversive. But she does not really strike a blow for fairness or anything like that she just pilfers things and indulges in small lies. Once again pointless and privileged. I am prepared to try o consider that her "transgressions" are politically motivated but they just look selfish and childish (perhaps because we see Seth more than her, quite possibly because the author identifies with Seth to some degree...or at least when I unbalancedly tend to write one POV it's because that is the character I identify with).
There are some puzzling things, like the criminal that Mo catches by the end of the book (I am not sure if the book led me to the conclusion or if I guessed it but she stumbles on it). The insanity of the perpetrator of the crimes (or possible visionary sanity), coupled with the insanity of Evelyn (who midway through the book believes a virgin birth is about to happen, despite supposedly being a very sophisticated and cosmopolitan woman), the mysterious scent of roses when one of the problems in the book abruptly and unaccountably fixes itself....more than a leap of suspended disbelief is asked for in a book that in other ways is grittily realistic.
Anyway a crazy book, a book to challenge. I liked that it was written to subvert the "romance genre". I didn't mind how separate the two threads were almost the whole way through (and barely touched at the end at which point I wanted to smack Evelyn and her patronising views). I liked that the sex scenes were intimate but not graphic.
It had some merit but more flaws. If you are a curious person who reads widely then this short thing is worth having a crack at...the pages mostly turn themselves at least.
July 11, 2016
I should read more books by Patrick Gale. I’ve enjoyed everything of his that I’ve read, particularly Rough Music, Friendly Fire and his recent foray into historical fiction, A Place Called Winter. There are plenty of others to go at, quite a few of which are on my shelves, waiting to be read. The Aerodynamics of Pork was his first book, originally published in 1985. Although it feels like a first novel, and his style has developed greatly since then, it’s a fascinating record of the period. One of the key themes of the book is society’s hypocritical attitude to gay rights and it’s incredible to think how much has changed in the last thirty years – so much so that the book feels like the product of a very different era indeed. I was lucky to find a copy of the original paperback with the cover illustration by the great Beryl Cook.
May 24, 2020
Well this was very good fun in a Tales of the City meets a properly gay idealisd 1980s modernised Brideshead sort of a way. Definite first novel vibes because the later Patrick Gale novels I've read are stone cold realised masterpieces more mature and surer in tone - more serious too perhaps but this is perfect for a quick read in good weather and sometimes that's just what the book doctor prescribed.
October 21, 2017
Patrick Gale's first novel, an enjoyable read with hints of what is to come in his later books.
February 16, 2020
A first novel and very enjoyable too but not in the same league as some of his later ones.
July 30, 2024
I was very disappointed with this one but accept that this was probably because it was his first. I’m getting bored of the fact that sex plays such a big part in his earlier books, as opposed to another reason driving the narrative.
July 27, 2019
I’ve enjoyed all the Patrick Gale books I’ve read so far, although there is often some aspect that I struggle with.
Again, I enjoyed reading this book. There were some interesting characters and I love books set in Cornwall. I found the juxtaposition of the 2 stories a bit odd, there didn’t really feel like enough of a link to warrant them being in the same book. I found myself more drawn to Seth’s story than Mo’s, so the switching back and forth was a bit of an annoyance.
However, overall an enjoyable read.
Again, I enjoyed reading this book. There were some interesting characters and I love books set in Cornwall. I found the juxtaposition of the 2 stories a bit odd, there didn’t really feel like enough of a link to warrant them being in the same book. I found myself more drawn to Seth’s story than Mo’s, so the switching back and forth was a bit of an annoyance.
However, overall an enjoyable read.
December 24, 2022
What a funky, queer little book. I was volunteering with a used bookstore and came across it while sorting, the cover (the version with the lesbian bar scene) and title were so intriguing, I had to have it.
And now? My current "favorite book," will be difficult to knock it from that pedestal. Not only did I love the bizarre plot, the peculiar characters, and the weirdness of the writing itself, but I so strongly resonated with the main character in a way I never have before, and I'll find that hard to beat. A true 10/10. Not without its flaws, but my emotional stake in the book overpowers those technical hiccups by a mile and a half.
The book is short, but getting through it took work. For one, some of the dated British slang was difficult to traverse, but mainly (and not negatively) just because his sentences were crafted so intentionally. SO much subtext was written in each conversation and action and situation, rereading sentences and passages brought so much depth to the book, I was floored with how much of the characters' auras and idiosyncrasies I could catch without explicitly reading them.
And it's so gay! So refreshing to read a queer book by a queer author that is more queer than just its themes. The main character's crush and first relationship is something I never got to experience, but I felt so much joy through him when he was able to feel that, even through all his heartache.
Other random aspects of the book I enjoyed: it's a mystery, there's gays AND lesbians, a myriad of social issues peppered throughout, and Seth is a musician.
Sure, some of it is unbelievable, but I don't think that was the point. And yea it was work to get through, but not unenjoyable. I will for sure be reading some of Gale's other works.
And now? My current "favorite book," will be difficult to knock it from that pedestal. Not only did I love the bizarre plot, the peculiar characters, and the weirdness of the writing itself, but I so strongly resonated with the main character in a way I never have before, and I'll find that hard to beat. A true 10/10. Not without its flaws, but my emotional stake in the book overpowers those technical hiccups by a mile and a half.
The book is short, but getting through it took work. For one, some of the dated British slang was difficult to traverse, but mainly (and not negatively) just because his sentences were crafted so intentionally. SO much subtext was written in each conversation and action and situation, rereading sentences and passages brought so much depth to the book, I was floored with how much of the characters' auras and idiosyncrasies I could catch without explicitly reading them.
And it's so gay! So refreshing to read a queer book by a queer author that is more queer than just its themes. The main character's crush and first relationship is something I never got to experience, but I felt so much joy through him when he was able to feel that, even through all his heartache.
Other random aspects of the book I enjoyed: it's a mystery, there's gays AND lesbians, a myriad of social issues peppered throughout, and Seth is a musician.
Sure, some of it is unbelievable, but I don't think that was the point. And yea it was work to get through, but not unenjoyable. I will for sure be reading some of Gale's other works.
August 29, 2012
I was introduced to Patrick first by Rough Music and then by Notes from an Exhibition - both of which I loved. I therefore decided to explore more of his back catalogue.
This is Patrick's 1986 debut and it is interesting to see how his writing style has developed over time. The story concerns the Peake family who travel to Cornwall to an annual classical music festival and a lesbian police officer who investigates a series of mysterious burglaries in London that target astrologists.
There is the usual exploration of relationships that you expect from a Patrick novel but the characters lack depth and it is difficult to warm to any of them. I found Mo, the police officer, particularly challenging. I wanted to care about Seth and his relationship with artist Roly but ultimately I wasn't really bothered; Roly was unnecessarily objectionable when he first meets Seth for no apparent reason and Seth seemed to be going through an adolescent phase rather than looking for any sort of meaningful relationship. None of it was as real as I've come to expect from Patrick.
That said, it was an enjoyable read as the plot developed and you came to realize how the two apparently disparate stories related to one another. Anyone expecting masterpieces of characterization and depth of relationships as experienced in Patrick's more recent novels will be disappointed.
This is Patrick's 1986 debut and it is interesting to see how his writing style has developed over time. The story concerns the Peake family who travel to Cornwall to an annual classical music festival and a lesbian police officer who investigates a series of mysterious burglaries in London that target astrologists.
There is the usual exploration of relationships that you expect from a Patrick novel but the characters lack depth and it is difficult to warm to any of them. I found Mo, the police officer, particularly challenging. I wanted to care about Seth and his relationship with artist Roly but ultimately I wasn't really bothered; Roly was unnecessarily objectionable when he first meets Seth for no apparent reason and Seth seemed to be going through an adolescent phase rather than looking for any sort of meaningful relationship. None of it was as real as I've come to expect from Patrick.
That said, it was an enjoyable read as the plot developed and you came to realize how the two apparently disparate stories related to one another. Anyone expecting masterpieces of characterization and depth of relationships as experienced in Patrick's more recent novels will be disappointed.
August 12, 2010
I'm not really sure why this is one book instead of two; the intersections between Mo Faithe's story and Seth & Netia's stories weren't really used -- the two stories didn't intertwine or illuminate each other. They're both interesting stories, but I got a little mental whiplash switching back and forth.
I'm VASTLY amused by the music festival in Seth's story, given that I know Gale through his chairmanship of the St Endellion music festival. In north Cornwall. ::cackles::
This is one of those books where I stare at it, thinking, what, exactly, makes this so English? Americanize the punctuation and I *swear* I would still know the author is an Englishman; it's not the setting, either, because Ian McEwan does not give them same sense.
I'm VASTLY amused by the music festival in Seth's story, given that I know Gale through his chairmanship of the St Endellion music festival. In north Cornwall. ::cackles::
This is one of those books where I stare at it, thinking, what, exactly, makes this so English? Americanize the punctuation and I *swear* I would still know the author is an Englishman; it's not the setting, either, because Ian McEwan does not give them same sense.
June 10, 2016
The Aerodynamics of Pork is composed of two story lines. In one Seth Peake is an almost 16 year old violin prodigy whose sister is suffering with a hysteria-induced false pregnancy. The other follows Maude Faithe, a passive-subversive inspector searching for a masked intruder of astrologers. Not until half way through the book do we perceive the inklings of how the two story lines interconnect. And once they do they barely touch. The ending is so subtle that it could have occurred anywhere within the book without changing it much. The age of consent seemed like the true foundation of the story, which might have contributed to why I never felt a connection to any of the characters.
June 14, 2020
I've read and enjoyed several Patrick Gale books but this title was not for me. It is one of his early [1986] works. I found that the concept of two stories which were meant, I think, to intersect, did not work well. In fact, at one point I had to check if the intention was for some level of intersection. The final pages did reveal the relationship between the 2 stories but it was a slog to get there. A lot of the story seemed just a bi too odd for me. The mother, Evelyn, was a character I simply couldn't fathom.
November 7, 2017
The first, and possibly most delightful Patrick Gale. Pristine prose and a fluid story..I am grateful to have read it. 😊
March 17, 2021
Patrick Gale tells two stories in side by side and which meet briefly towards the conclusion. Mo, a WPC getting over the loss of her lover Maggie, finds herself engaged in investigating a series of burglaries on newspaper astrologers. Seth, fifteen years old, a violin prodigy, and older his sister Venetia are about to set off for the annual family holiday and festival in Cornwall. It will be a summer of discovery for the two siblings as well as for Mo.
Mo is good at her job, but suffers for being a woman (and a dyke) in an ostensibly male domain, but she may be successful in more than just the case she is working on.
Seth is a modest and unaffected young man, and while he has indulged in the occasional liaison with other boys at his private school, he has not found love. That is until he meets Roly while in Cornwall. Roly, in his early twenties, a sculptor, is handsome and dashing, and in the eyes of most rather arrogant, but Seth finds something else under the outer display, that is if he can pluck up the courage to make his interest clear.
Venetia displays what could be signs of pregnancy, although claims that cannot be possible. She is looking forward to meeting the writer she admires, a meeting that goes rather better than expected.
With a support of several other strong characters, The Aerodynamics of Pork provides a very entertaining read, often very funny, at times touching; this the first of Patrick Gale's novels shows much of the promise to come.
Mo is good at her job, but suffers for being a woman (and a dyke) in an ostensibly male domain, but she may be successful in more than just the case she is working on.
Seth is a modest and unaffected young man, and while he has indulged in the occasional liaison with other boys at his private school, he has not found love. That is until he meets Roly while in Cornwall. Roly, in his early twenties, a sculptor, is handsome and dashing, and in the eyes of most rather arrogant, but Seth finds something else under the outer display, that is if he can pluck up the courage to make his interest clear.
Venetia displays what could be signs of pregnancy, although claims that cannot be possible. She is looking forward to meeting the writer she admires, a meeting that goes rather better than expected.
With a support of several other strong characters, The Aerodynamics of Pork provides a very entertaining read, often very funny, at times touching; this the first of Patrick Gale's novels shows much of the promise to come.
August 9, 2024
This book epitomises the category of RUCF - that is, a random unknown charity-shop find bought without any recognition of the author or title, but just based on vibes. Honestly I picked this book up because the title made me laugh and the blurb reminded me of the humour and cadence of Stephen Fry's "The Liar". I also sort of love reading books which are people's first novel as they always feel a bit earnestly try-hardy yet tend to have a lot of soul and love put into them. Anyway, this definitely has flavours of Stephen Fry and centres on intertwining queer characters in late 90s Britain, from a sixteen year old boy grappling with the difference in age of consent to a lesbian police officer who strikes up a romance with a rebellious antifa squatter. It's a bit mad and good fun. Not the usual thing I'd read but sort of refreshing in its own way. Anyway, three stars bc even though it is 220 pages long I'm glad it wasn't any longer, and also because I don't expect I'll ever read it again. Back to the charity shop it goes, to be someone else's RUCF.
May 8, 2022
It must have been an act of defiance for Patrick Gale to publish his first novel in 1986, smack dab in the Thatcher years, with all main characters being gay or lesbian. It involves a 15 year-old violinist in lust for a sculptor, who is more than charmed but aware of the such cruel laws as the 'age of consent', and a squatter who discovers she is dating a copper, a pig, no less. Meanwhile Gale has gained a reputation as a productive novelist - he writes 'em faster than you read 'em - who excels in heartfelt, bittersweet rom-coms. I've read and loved several of his novels and am anxious to read his latest, 'Mother's Boy'. 'The Aerodynamics of Pork' however reads like a strained updated version of 'Brideshead Revisited', it is enjoyable at times but not does leave a lasting impression. Well, we all have to start somewhere.
April 6, 2025
Coming back to this novel after originally reading it in the 1980's I am surprised - but probably shouldn't be - by how trite some of it seems when you consider how this writer had developed into a mature tour de force. Interesting ideas but rather too flambuoyant although this also could be a response to the introduction of the Betty Trask Prize for fiction. If I didn't know better I would say that Mr Gale was hedging his bets and hoping to win it! The good ideas have been followed through with later works and he is definitely one of my favourite authors, with some of the signs apparent of the genius to come.
July 5, 2021
This was actually my second reading of this book. I first read it around 30 years ago and have fond memories of it as one of the first gay novels I ever read. This time around I was less enamoured, but still found it charming. It is really over-written, and I found myself occasionally getting lost in the denseness of the prose. And the tiresome well-educated, upper middle class characters that tend to over-populate Gale's work are present in full effect here. But still, it is appealing and engaging.
May 5, 2024
I’ve read quite a lot of Patrick Gale’s recent stories and was pleased to come across this one as it’s his first published book.
I loved the dual narrative and the way the stories intertwined at the end. The depiction of Seth and his middle class musical family was well drawn; I wasn’t so convinced by the character of Mo, though her encounters at work and with London’s gay community were very amusing. I could see how the author’s early experience of writing about artistic communities influenced a number of his later works. It’s an enjoyable read and an accomplished first novel.
I loved the dual narrative and the way the stories intertwined at the end. The depiction of Seth and his middle class musical family was well drawn; I wasn’t so convinced by the character of Mo, though her encounters at work and with London’s gay community were very amusing. I could see how the author’s early experience of writing about artistic communities influenced a number of his later works. It’s an enjoyable read and an accomplished first novel.
September 27, 2017
I read this book so very long ago that it's probably hardly fair to review it, really. I will say that I loved it at the time, and I'm interested to discover now from other reviews that it was intended as a subversion of the traditional romance novel. A little irony there, because the gay relationship struck me as the very essence of Harlequin, barring the homosexuality.
April 25, 2021
I have greatly enjoyed Patrick Gale's recent books, and decided to try his earlier ones. This didn't disappoint. There are two plot lines that seem initially unrelated, but which come together at the end. It's a good read - recommended.
January 9, 2025
The portrayal of Seth is more successful than the portrayal of Mo and some of the attempts to represent her as a 'true cockney' are a bit clunky. Nevertheless there are beautiful and very engaging sections and the interleaving of the stories works well.
April 17, 2019
Was slightly disappointed with this. I read A Place Called Winter earlier this year and loved it. While I enjoyed this I didn’t love it.
May 8, 2020
*3.5*
April 15, 2022
I wasn't sure what this book was supposed to be, too gentle for satire but too pointed for a fable.
March 10, 2024
An odd little book which I happened to enjoy quite a lot.
July 27, 2024
Agree with author’s own assessment of this debut novel. Patrick Gale’s later novels are a delight - the seeds are in this debut but nothing comes to fruition.
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