Radical Love

Product Information

I’ll start by saying this book was not the book I was expecting it to be. I imagined I’d be reading a historical gay love story. Welcome to England, 1809. London is a violent, intolerant city, exhausted by years of war, beset by soaring prices and political I feel SO conflicted about this book, but I think it’s because I went into it with the wrong expectations. I thought this was a book about romantic gay love throughout history, the difficulties of navigating in a world that wants to kill you, a book about community and find safe spaces to hide away from the world together. and in a way, it was. but the majority of this book was not like that. and obsession, and breathtaking in its depiction of the brutality and hypocrisy of prejudice, all told in sharp, beautiful prose. An unforgettable book." At first, I thought that this was going to be an interesting exploration of the necessity for “radicals” within challenging societal parameters (for legality and morality aren't always congruent) - if social commentary has one fan, it is me, if it has no fans, I am dead. Don’t get me wrong, many important themes were dissected, albeit through the lens of a capricious narrator: sexuality, gender and race relations to name a few.

BUT…I do hope that people who might not know our history, learn from this. Worse than rapists just for loving eachother? Let that sink in. This is a great historic fiction (based in fact) about the gay community in the early 1800s, the cruelty and persecution they faced.My only issue was that the ending felt quite rushed - I would’ve liked a bit more insight into the trial and its aftermath. I have read several books on The Overbury Affair so I was intrigued by yet another novel which includes it. Sir Francis Bacon knows his value and knows how to navigate at the court of James I. Power is the highest reward of all. Bacon looks for new ways to influence the king after Rober Carr's downfall and he finds an eager student who is supposed to play the role Bacon has prepared for him.

Based on real people and real events we’re guided through the story but a completely unreliable narrator. John is a liar, he omits things, forgets to tell you stuff then ‘remembers’ later in the story. But I liked him. I felt sad for him, he falls in love and it consumes him. He makes bad decisions but when we learn about his childhood we can see why he is so flawed.

It is based on narration of John Church, or Reverend John Church as he later became. It was a choice to show someone, who even by the end, I'm not wholly sure I knew what to feel about them. But ultimately he is flawed, and undoubtedly choices made are a direct reflection on his upbringing.