This Brutal House (SCARCE BRITISH FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, SIGNED BY AUTHOR, NIVEN GOVINDEN)

Govinden, Niven

ISBN 10: 0349700702 / ISBN 13: 9780349700700

Published by Dialogue Books, London, 2019

About this Item

VG/NrF. First Edition, First Printing in d/w not price clipped. SIGNED BY AUTHOR, NIVEN GOVINDEN. ON TITLE-PAGE WITHOUT DEDICATION OR INSCRIPTION. A novel in which five aging Mothers sit on the steps of New York's City Hall in silent protest. They are the guardians of the vogue ball community - queer, gay men who opened their hearts and homes to countless lost Children, providing safe spaces for them to explore their true selves. Minor bumping to part of head of front cover and head of spine; a very good copy, in a near fine d/w, of a SCARCE first edition, first printing SIGNED BY AUTHOR, NIVEN GOVINDEN.

Seller Inventory # 20612

Bibliographic Details

• Title: This Brutal House (SCARCE BRITISH FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, SIGNED BY AUTHOR, NIVEN GOVINDEN)
• Publisher: Dialogue Books, London
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0349700702
• ISBN 13: 9780349700700
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author, Niven Govinden
• Seller catalogs:
  • Fiction
  • Modern First Edition

About this title

Synopsis

GUARDIAN MUST READ BOOKS OF 2019

iNews BEST NEW FICTION 2019

'A symbolic rallying cry for the need for LGBTQ+ teens to have safe spaces of their own'

DAZED BOOKS TO READ IN 2019

'Vivid prose reinventing ideas of motherhood, belonging and taking us into the community of drag balls and protest, both personal and political' JENNI FAGAN

'Fearless, authentic, vivid - necessary in a world that's running out of tolerance' PANOS KARNEZIS

'A vital book' ANDREW MCMILLAN

'A novel of rare intensity and sustained passion, THIS BRUTAL HOUSE shines a light on lives marginalised and magnificent, and asks the pressing question: what would you do to stand up for your truth?' STEPHEN KELMAN

'A powerful and poetic book' KERRY HUDSON

'Niven Govinden is a true force of fierceness and beauty' OLIVIA LIANG

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On the steps of New York's City Hall, five ageing Mothers sit in silent protest. They are the guardians of the vogue ball community - queer men who opened their hearts and homes to countless lost Children, providing safe spaces for them to explore their true selves.

Through epochs of city nightlife, from draconian to liberal, the Children have been going missing; their absences ignored by the authorities and uninvestigated by the police. In a final act of dissent the Mothers have come to pray: to expose their personal struggle beneath our age of protest, and commemorate their loss until justice is served.

Watching from City Hall's windows is city clerk, Teddy. Raised by the Mothers, he is now charged with brokering an uneasy truce.

With echoes of James Baldwin, Marilynne Robinson and Rachel Kushner, Niven Govinden asks what happens when a generation remembered for a single, lavish decade has been forced to grow up, and what it means to be a parent in a confused and complex society.

About the Author

Niven Govinden is the author of six novels. Diary of a Film was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and is currently being developed for the screen. This Brutal House was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and shortlisted for the Polari and Gordon Burn Prizes.