'Tender, evocative' TLS

'Richly engaging' Spectator

A Radio 4 Serial Fiction Book of the Week

'A characteristically tender novel about a young man growing up in the shadow of one war and the whispers of the next' Observer

'A wonderful novel about relationships, particularly between a mother and son. A compelling read, beautifully crafted and sensitively written' Irish Examiner
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Laura, a laundress, meets her young husband when they are both placed in service in Teignmouth in 1914. They have a baby, Charles, but his father returns home from the trenches a damaged man, already ill with the tuberculosis that will soon leave Laura a widow.

As a new war looms, Charles signs up for the navy as a coder. His escape from the tight, gossipy confines of Launceston to a more colourful life in action sees him blossom, as he experiences the possibility of death, and the excitement - even terror - of a love that is as clandestine as his work.
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'Stands with the best queer literary fiction of a historical bent, illuminated as it is by Gale's devilish wit and talent for both social observation and intricacies of character' Sydney Morning Herald

'A wonderful novel - a touching, utterly convincing portrait of the nascent artist' Mail on Sunday

'A deeply moving novel. The portrait of a complex relationship that constricted as much as it sustained is brilliantly done' The Tablet

• We started tracking this book on September 26, 2021.
• This book was £9.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 14 times in the past 1,286 days.
• The current price of this book is £2.99 last checked 19 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was £0.99 last reached on April 30, 2023.
• This book has been £0.99 3 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £9.99 last reached on December 1, 2022.
• This book has been £9.99 3 times since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionGenre FictionLGBTQ+Gay
• Literature & FictionLiterary FictionLGBTQ+
• LGBTQ+LGBTQ+Gay
• Literature & FictionLiterary FictionHistorical
• Literature & FictionGenre Fiction

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 357 Pages
• File Size: 24 KB