First published 1994
Edward Manners leaves Britain for a small Flemish town, seeking fresh air and a new start as an English teacher. He quickly becomes infatuated with Luc Altidore, a mysterious seventeen-year-old who has just been expelled from school. As Edward pursues this dangerous attraction, he navigates a world of eccentric locals: Cherif, a Moroccan regular at the gay bar; Matt, who deals in pornography and used underwear; and Paul Echevin, a museum director whose father was another student. Paul introduces Edward to the legacy of Edgard Orst, a symbolist painter who died under Nazi occupation after living a consuming passion for a famous actress. Meanwhile, news arrives from England that an old lover has died of AIDS. Edward finds himself caught between desire and tragedy, between the refined cultural world of art and museums and the seedier corners of small-town life. The story moves through three interconnected parts, weaving together Edward's obsession with the elusive Luc and his growing understanding of how passion can both elevate and destroy.
Genres: art, romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary-romance, gay-fiction, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Belgium, Britain, Flanders, England
Period: 20th-century, Nazi Occupation
422 pages · Hardcover · Random House UK
Content warnings: explicit-sexual-content, mental-illness