Rounding up the best LGBT

books of 2013
As reported last month, the teenage and young
adult markets have embraced the worlds
increasingly vocal gay youth with a number
of excellent titles this year looking at their
experiences. On the adult side, however, a scan
through the 2013 ction bestseller list reveals
a sad lack of new novels with gay narratives
and prominent queer characters. That aside, it
has been a good year overall for LGBT ction
authors, with a number of strong novels hitting
the shelves.
Heading the pack for ction is
Arimathea (Brandon, September),
the debut novel from award-winning
playwright Frank McGuinness. Easily
one of the years most accomplished
novels, it tells the story of a small
Donegal town thrown into quiet
chaos when an Italian artist arrives
to paint the local churchs Stations of the Cross.
Building to a heartbreaking nale where the
towns secret tensions explode into the open, the
book was an exceptional examination of family,
religion, and love.
Similarly understated but equally powerful is
Colm Tibns Booker-shortlisted
novella The Testament of
Mary (Penguin, July). The story
of the worlds most famous
mother mourning the loss of
her only son, it was a 112-page
book that packed as powerful
a punch as the Bookers
eventual winner, Eleanor Cattons 832-page The
Luminaries. With a new novel by Tibn due next
year, one of Irelands most beloved and gifted
writers shows no signs of slowing down.
One novel that did manage to hit
the gay bullseye was Knowing
Me Knowing You (Hachette,
June), the follow-up to The
Forced Redundancy Film Club
by GCNs own Brian Finnegan.
Following a group of friends visiting
Stockholm for one nal (and sadly
ctional) ABBA concert, the novel
thoughtfully tackled topical gay
bullying and trans issues, while never losing
touch with its beautiful, big, Fernando-loving
heart.
If youre searching for that
ideal non-ction Christmas
gift, theres no shortage of
great titles to choose from.
One previously published title
that found a new audience
due to its lm adaption
was Philomena (Penguin,
October), Martin Sixmiths biographical tale
of an Irish woman desperately looking for her
son, 50 years after he was sold to an American
couple from a Roscrea convent.
He turned out to be Michael
Hess, a prominent member of
the Republican party who died
from Aids, and who was forced
to hide his homosexuality for a
number of years.
Elsewhere, humourist David
Sedaris produced yet another
fantastic collection of hilarious autobiographical
anecdotes in Lets Explore Diabetes with
Owls (Abacus, April). Sedaris will host an event
at the National Concert Hall in April. Damian
Barrs autobiography, Maggie
and Me (Bloomsbury, April),
detailing his childhood
growing up gay in Glasgow
during Thatchers reign
received ecstatic reviews on
publication and is a fascinating
and extremely entertaining read.
It was also a good year for biography.
Hello, Darlings! (Transworld,
September), the authorised
biography of Kenny Everett,
incorporated interviews with his
family, friends and collaborators,
and was an exhaustive look and
Everetts life and career which
followed the excellent BBC4 drama,
Best Possible Taste, repeated earlier
in the year.
In the musical sphere, Paul
Kildeas epic look at the life of
Benjamin Britten, Benjamin
Britten: A Life in the
Twentieth Century (Penguin,
January), not only focussed on
his music and his pacism, but
also on his relationship with tenor
Peter Pears, for whom he created a
number of his most celebrated works.
Finally, queer ber-icon Morrissey released
his long-awaited autobiography (Penguin)
to much fanfare in October.
Controversially published under
the Penguin Classic imprint, it
looks at his time in the Smiths,
the court cases that have plagued
his recent career, and ofcially
reveals his relationship with
photographer Jake Walters.
PRo:log/BOOKS
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