It’s because of Britain’s disintegrating rail network that I’ve been able to catch up on a lot of reading over the past few months. And given the ever-increasing selection of books for review that are dropping through my letterbox these days, there’s nothing quite like an umpteen-hour train delay to help me wade through them all.
Among my most recent reading excursions, I’ve been enjoying two great novels from Gay Men’s Press. Both are well written and have their fair share of two of the things I find essential in life – good food and great sex!
First up, Anthea Ingham’s Sebastian’s Tangibles charts the relationship between an Oxford University don (and culinary connoisseur), Julian Collins, and his sometime student, the stunningly beautiful, highly promiscuous (and always hungry), Sebastian Salonière. Collins – an expert on the (fictitious) Victorian poet Maximillian, Lord Melcourt – becomes as obsessed with the writer’s life and death as he does with Sebastian himself.
Ingham’s narrative very successfully intertwines Julian and Sebastian’s intense erotic relationship with that of Lord Melcourt and his lover Toto, bringing to the fore parallels between all their lives as it unwinds.
Second, Adam, by Anthony McDonald, brings to life very vividly the scenery of France and its wonderful cuisine, and is described by the publishers as “a passionate story of illicit romance and teenage angst set over a long hot summer”. As of writing, I haven’t made it to France yet this year but have enjoyed a long hot summer, which this book – McDonald’s second novel – with its fabulous sex, has played no small part in! Well, I’m off for a cold shower now before booking my next train journey ...