Enter your search terms Submit search form   Web www.obsidianbookshelf.com

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

In 2004, The Line of Beauty captured the Booker Prize, the most prestigious literary award in Britain and the Commonwealth. Since the plot centers on a gay man, it remains a controversial choice; apparently, the judges subjected it to a heated discussion which precipitated a closely divided vote in the eleventh hour. 

It's 1983 in London. Nick Guest is our 21 year-old hero:  blond, slender, and good-looking. In a brave decision for the early 1980s, he chooses not to hide his homosexuality from his friends.  He's no stereotypical queen, nor does he experience self-loathing over being gay.  His shame lies in his lower-class origins courtesy of his shopkeeper parents from whom he tries to disassociate himself. He managed to get to Oxford where he studied literature and ingratiated his way into the upper classes by befriending the sons of the wealthy and influential.  His best friend is Toby Feddens.  In fact, he is infatuated with the handsome but straight Toby who good-naturedly insists that they remain friends only.

However, the friendship results in Nick getting an invitation to live with the Feddens family for the indefinite future.  Toby's dad Gerald Feddens is a conservative Member of Parliament and a favorite of the new Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. So life is taking an exciting turn for the Feddens family. Gerald, whom Nick regards with a mixture of affection and contempt, doesn't suspect that Nick is gay.

In many subtle ways, Nick feels like a servant or poverty-stricken relative in the Feddens household, and it bothers him more than it should. However, he has the decency to help look after Toby's bipolar sister Catherine who, like him, despises her father's Tory politics.  He also enjoys lounging around the Feddens' luxurious home in the highly prestigious Notting Hill neighborhood.  More than anything, he loves being able to get in and out of the gardens with the exclusive key that only residents are allowed to have. All this class-consciousness is very British and the obsession with status is very adolescent, and (while sometimes exasperating) adds a realistic dimension to Nick's character.

Nick wants to lose his virginity.  So he keeps his eyes open for a likely boyfriend, finally finding Leo through a personal ad. Leo is 30 years old, black, and from a much lower social class than Nick.  Every day Leo bicycles home from his clerical job to the shabby apartment he shares with his extremely religious West Indies mother who has no idea he is gay.

Despite tensions over the social-class difference, Nick and Leo experience cautious mutual attraction. Soon after they meet, they have sex in the exclusive gardens at the Feddens' Notting Hill residence. Of course this is both an act of defiance and the fulfillment of a fantasy for both of them.  It's an explicit scene, laced with unexpected humor. This kicks off their affair that, while energetic and affectionate, cannot hope to last because Nick is always aware that Leo is his inferior in terms of education and sophistication.

Part One (set in 1983) suddenly ends.  Parts Two (1986) and Three (1987) pick up with Nick still living with the Feddens family whose star has risen even higher with the ascent of Margaret Thatcher.  Nick, while still young and high-spirited, is no longer innocent.  He has a new Lebanese boyfriend Wani with whom he likes to snort cocaine and engage in threesomes. Wani, a rich man's son, also attended Oxford.  Well, what about Leo? We don't know for several pages, then realize that Nick is not entirely sure either. They just drifted apart. Much later on Nick happens to see Leo from a distance and his former lover looks in poor health. 

Could this be AIDS looming over our unsuspecting characters? Well, yes. This is the 1980s. It turns out that poor Leo does contract AIDS and just fades out of the narrative.  Nick doesn't realize the larger horror at work until Wani contracts a full-blown case of AIDS, which is just starting to make the news.  Since Wani is a creepy, manipulative, hollow person, it's hard to feel sorry for him. 

Fortunately, AIDS remains in the background as a sinister shadow that changes the hedonistic cocaine-culture of the glittering 1980s.  Nick remains disease-free and free of any regrets about being gay.  This is not an AIDS story, and The Line of Beauty focuses its energies on Nick as a satiric observer of the upper-classes in Margaret Thatcher's conservative circles.  There's the party where Nick actually gets to dance with the Prime Minister. In another scene, Nick and Gerald journey to the district that Gerald as an MP represents (which happens to be where Nick's parents live) and they do the meet-and-greet at the country fair. 

The Tory power-mongers are portrayed as an intolerant lot, populating a superficial world under intense scrutiny.  What fertile grounds for a juicy scandal!   Nick's sexual activities with Wani get increasingly out of control. Meanwhile Gerald seems to be having an affair with another woman.  Add to this the unstable Catherine and her vengeful desire to wreak havoc on her father to punish him for his conservatism. You can probably guess what's going to happen! The Line of Beauty is an absorbing novel especially for someone like me here at ObsidianBookshelf.com who remembers the 1980s.

Relevant Links:   Contemporary Fiction   Nightswimmer by Joseph Olshan   Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran   The Line of Beauty is available on Amazon:   Line of Beauty

homoerotic fiction slash fan fiction self-publishing writers homoerotic writing gay fiction homoerotic themes gay fiction writers yaoi book publicity creative writing gay mysteries homoerotic gay fantasy book reviews gay literature gay self-publishing historical fiction slash book writing homosexual book reviews slash gay novels creative writing gay books gay erotica literary criticism gay slash yaoi science fiction publishing book reviews print on demand books reviews slash gay romances writing books gay publishing gay love book reviews gay characters writing gay lovers homosexual gay writing slash books love gay romance writing book yaoi reviews self publishing love creative writing homoerotic yaoi gay literary criticism books self publishing erotica books slash homoerotic fiction slash fan fiction self-publishing writers homoerotic writing gay fiction homoerotic themes gay fiction writers yaoi book publicity creative writing gay mysteries homoerotic gay fantasy book reviews gay literature gay self-publishing historical fiction slash book writing homosexual book reviews slash gay novels creative writing gay books gay erotica literary criticism gay slash yaoi science fiction publishing book reviews print on demand books reviews slash gay romances writing books gay publishing gay love book reviews homoerotic fiction slash fan fiction self-publishing writers homoerotic writing gay fiction homoerotic themes gay fiction writers yaoi book publicity creative writing gay mysteries homoerotic gay fantasy book reviews gay literature gay self-publishing historical fiction slash book writing homosexual book reviews slash gay novels creative writing gay books gay erotica literary criticism gay slash yaoi science fiction publishing book reviews print on demand books reviews slash gay romances writing books gay publishing gay love book reviews books reviews slash gay romances writing books gay publishing gay love book reviewsbooks reviews slash gay romances writing books gay publishing gay love book reviews