Londres, 1894. Sous le vernis de leurs mariages respectifs, deux hommes vivent des relations empreintes de honte et de culpabilité. John Addington, grand bourgeois respecté, a cédé à son attirance pour les hommes depuis qu'il a rencontré Frank. De son côté, Henry Ellis, un jeune médecin progressiste, voit sa femme tomber amoureuse d'Angelica.
Dans cette Angleterre victorienne où l'homosexualité est illégale, les deux hommes décident d'écrire un livre aussi révolutionnaire que sulfureux, destiné à faire évoluer les mentalités. Mais avant la parution, Oscar Wilde est arrêté et condamné pour « grave immoralité ». L'ouvrage risque d'exposer John et Henry - ainsi que leur entourage - au même danger. Quel prix sont-ils prêts à payer pour faire accepter un nouveau mode de vie ?
Inspiré de faits réels, ce premier roman époustouflant sur le conflit entre l'ordre moral et notre besoin de liberté résonne d'un écho étonnamment actuel.
''It was as if this man in front of him were an invisible door and he was paused on the threshold'' Discover Tom Crewe''s magnificent debut novel about desire and the search for freedom in Victorian England . . .
* ''Beautifully crafted'' Sunday Times * ''Powerful'' Telegraph * ''Virtuoso'' Guardian * ''Brims with intelligence and insight'' New York Times * ''Vivid and erotically charged'' Daily Mail * ''A very fine new writer'' Kate Atkinson ______________ London, 1894. After a lifetime navigating his desires, John, married to Catherine, has met Frank. Meanwhile Henry''s wife Edith has fallen for Angelica.
A shared vision for the future brings John and Henry together to write a revolutionary book in defiance of convention and the law.
Their daring book threatens to throw John and Henry, and all those around them, into danger. How far should they go to win personal freedoms? And how high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living?
______________ ''Enthralling . . . I''m confident I have read one of the most beautifully crafted, lavishly imagined novels of 2023'' Sunday Times ''Electrifying'' Anne Enright ''Filled with nuance and tenderness . . . charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving'' Colm Toibin
''A very fine new writer'' Kate Atkinson ''Electrifying'' Anne Enright ______________ Two Victorian marriages, two dangerous love affairs, one extraordinary partnership After a lifetime spent navigating his desires, John Addington, married to Catherine, has met Frank, a working-class printer. Meanwhile Henry Ellis''s wife Edith has fallen in love with Angelica - and Angelica wants Edith all to herself. When in 1894 John and Henry decide to write a revolutionary book together, intended to challenge convention and the law, they are both caught in relationships stalked by guilt and shame. Yet they share a vision of a better world, one that will expand possibilities for men and women everywhere. Their daring book threatens to throw John and Henry, and all those around them, into danger. How far should they go to win personal freedoms? And how high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living? ''Filled with nuance and tenderness... charting the lives of men and women who inspired not only political progress but an entire new way of living and loving'' Colm Toibin
