BOX HILL
Adam Mars-Jones (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
If Tom Of Finland had grown up in deepest Surrey in the 1970s, his homoerotic sketches of muscly motorcyclists and police officers might’ve resembled the men depicted in this slim, smouldering novel, which won the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize. By turns shocking and wittily observed, this poignant character study follows Colin, who we first meet aged 18 when he begins a love affair with an older man, leather-clad biker Ray, whose legs he trips over when walking across Box Hill. Colin finds himself moving in with Ray and introduced to his biker friends as a submissive tagalong. A vividly realised coming-of-age tale, Mars-Jones – known for his elegant fiction as well as penetrating literary criticism – lets it all hang out in this quietly powerful exploration of sexuality, sadomasochism and the self.
Price: £9.99. Info: www.fitzcarraldoeditions.com SP