The New Life

Very solid and enjoyable book. It gets a little tedious in parts, it could do with more sex and less letter-writing. But it's a serious work of historical fiction and has a lot of insight to offer.

I'm fascinated by this era in gay history, when the modern homosexuality identity was being discovered and created. This novel makes for great companion reading to The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity 1869-1939. Also it was great to read on the back of me reading a lot of Whitman.

What I liked best is the author's historical research. I'm more than passing familiar with 19th century sexology so I was all over the details of Symonds and Ellis' lives. At the same time it's clearly fiction, with several years added to Symonds' lifespan and a third party added to Ellis' family that I think there's little or no historical basis for. That's all fine and makes for a more insightful story.

One detail I appreciated: the sympathy paid to the straight folks who also suffered the consequences of homosexual persecution. Particularly Symonds long-suffering wife, she is written with agency and dignity.

All in all a terrific book. Remarkably well structured for a first novel.

PS: Chapter 1 is available to read here. It's excellent, interesting writing and very sexy. But the rest of the book is not like this. Not as stylized and not as porny. Too bad, this chapter was fun!