Release Date: 1st June 2023
Publisher: Random House UK | Cornerstone
Welcome to England, 1809. London is a violent, intolerant city, exhausted by years of war, beset by soaring prices and political tensions. By day, John Church preaches on the radical possibilities of love to a multicultural, working-class congregation in Southwark. But by night, he crosses the river to the secret and glamorous world of a gay molly house on Vere Street, where ordinary men reinvent themselves as funny, flirtatious drag queens and rent boys cavort with labourers and princes alike. There, Church becomes the first minister to offer marriages between men, at enormous risk.
Everything changes when Church meets the unworldly and free-thinking Ned, part of a group of African activist abolitionists who attend his chapel. The two bond over their broken childhoods, and Church falls obsessively in love with Ned's tender nature. In a fragile, colourful secret world under threat, Church's love for Ned takes him to the edge of reason.
"Weeds can grow in the cracks of city pavements, but that don't mean their blooms ain't beautiful!"
A triumphant journey to the not-too-distant past and the dangerous divides between sexualities, races, classes that fractured so many lives. Based on historical events and accounts, this fictionalised retelling takes us back to a pivotal moment in queer history that sent shockwaves through an ignorant, hateful society.
The characters were clearly researched with lots of care and attention - and they were the driving force of this story - their loves, their passions, their desires, their connections were blinding beautiful. John was complex - a foundling, cast out as a baby and now trying to fight for the rights of him and his friends. He saw beauty in the world despite how much it had hurt him, telling us stories of the past and dreaming about the future, talking to us and musing in a lyrical, poetic style that was immersive and descriptive. His voice was reflective of the time period, but still easy to understand with a level of relatability despite it being centuries ago. John was one of our heros, but he isn't a hero to many - he was flawed, obsessive, impulsive, controlling. He is the perfect example of the idea that nobody is entirely good or bad, and he creates a strange kind of kinship with the reader.
Ned was amazing - a man who had spent his childhood in slavery and still fully believes in tolerance and love despite his deep resentment of a world that has tried to repeatedly control him. He tries to open Johns eyes, expand his world view by making him confront his own privileges and biases. He was a beautiful man, finding himself in a world that told him who he is, and learning how to set a boundary for the first time.
As an ex-Christian, I felt the deep-rooted religious trauma in this story - Johns' desperation for people to see that a loving deity wouldn't separate and punish people for existing, that the God he loved would love him too. His sermons, based on real accounts, didn't feel forced, but inclusive, caring and evolving as any religion should be.
It was painful to see the parallels to today; the judgement, the mixing of church and state, the mob mentality and attempts to destroy liberal thinking. But on the other side, there were so many wonderful similarities that made me feel a kinship that spanned back in time to these beautiful people fighting for love and freedom.
A moving and stunning story about sexuality, identity, humanity but most of all about love.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.
cw: executions, religious trauma, homophobia, sex, racism, slavery, swearing, rape, assault, violence.
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