Scan barcode
A review by northie
Behind These Doors by Jude Lucens
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
You know something's good when you resent any time spent away. Refuse to distracted by anything else in your tbr heap. 'Behind these doors' is such a novel.
Queering the past doesn't just mean 'the nobs' (as Lucien might say). Why assume the rest of society kept on the sexual straight and narrow? Or indeed, that their stories don't deserve to be told. Lucien is a working man - not poor by any means - but dependent on what he earns. Around him, we experience both 'the nobs' and those for whom daily life is a continuous struggle.
Lucien's milieu is a deliciously portrayed snapshot of Edwardian London. Habits and conventions from the previous century mingle with the fight for women's suffrage, the birth of modern queer consciousness, and the first Labour MPs. There's a distinct sense of that upper class gilded existence which was largely blown out of the water with World War 1.
And of course, there's the romance, Complex and multi-faceted, it is also tender, loving, and dangerous. And a fantastic read. Jude Lucens' writing is perfect, drawing you in and making you care, while also capturing that sometimes languid Edwardian sensibility.
Callum Hale is also largely perfect, giving 'the nobs' their upper class nasal drawls. Lucien is more direct, though he and his accent straddle various social strata.
Queering the past doesn't just mean 'the nobs' (as Lucien might say). Why assume the rest of society kept on the sexual straight and narrow? Or indeed, that their stories don't deserve to be told. Lucien is a working man - not poor by any means - but dependent on what he earns. Around him, we experience both 'the nobs' and those for whom daily life is a continuous struggle.
Lucien's milieu is a deliciously portrayed snapshot of Edwardian London. Habits and conventions from the previous century mingle with the fight for women's suffrage, the birth of modern queer consciousness, and the first Labour MPs. There's a distinct sense of that upper class gilded existence which was largely blown out of the water with World War 1.
And of course, there's the romance, Complex and multi-faceted, it is also tender, loving, and dangerous. And a fantastic read. Jude Lucens' writing is perfect, drawing you in and making you care, while also capturing that sometimes languid Edwardian sensibility.
Callum Hale is also largely perfect, giving 'the nobs' their upper class nasal drawls. Lucien is more direct, though he and his accent straddle various social strata.