A SUNDAY TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2024A BBC MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024AN INDEPENDENT BEST FICTION
TO READ IN 2024A NEW STATESMAN FICTION HIGHLIGHT OF 2024A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN
2024AN i-D FICTION HIGHLIGHT TO BE EXCITED FOR IN 2024'A deeply felt and rich enactment of love
loneliness and personal triumph that leaves an indelible mark on modern Queer life' OCEAN
VUONGThe town was once a hub of industry. A place where men toiled underground in darkness
picking and shovelling in the dust and the sleck. It was dangerous and back-breaking work but
it meant something. Once the town provided it was important it had purpose. But what is it
now?Brothers Alex and Brian have spent their whole life in the town where their father lived
and his father too. Now in his middle age and still reeling from the collapse of his personal
life Alex must reckon with a part of his identity he has long tried to conceal. His only child
Simon has no memory of the mines. Now in his twenties and working in a call centre he derives
passion from his side hustle in sex work and his weekly drag gigs. Set across three generations
of South Yorkshire mining family Andrew McMillan's magnificent debut novel is a lament for a
lost way of life as well as a celebration of resilience and the possibility for change.
