269 ratings | 67 reviews | avg rating:4.38

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Damian’s Year In Books

Damian’s 2024 Year in Books

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Damian Barr’s Followers (330)

Damian’s Bookshelves

to-read (574)
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read (322)
eclectic (1)
historical (2)
historical-fiction (1)
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Damian’s Friends (1,195)

David Kenvyn

1,756 books | 152 friends

Ann Helen

1,445 books | 94 friends

Travis

1,028 books | 261 friends

Adam McPhee

4,341 books | 4,913 friends

Dale

1,845 books | 93 friends

Anthony

1,780 books | 1,811 friends

Josef Alton

74 books | 217 friends

Donna Foster

2,336 books | 4,996 friends

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Damian Barr

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United Kingdom

July 20

Website

https://www.damianbarr.com

Twitter

damian_barr

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction, Gay and Lesbian

Influences

Alice Walker, Truman Capote, Janice Galloway, Tennessee Williams, Dian ...more

Member Since

April 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomdamian_barr

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I'm a writer and broadcaster. My books are 'The Two Roberts', 'You Will Be Safe Here' and 'Maggie & Me'.

'The Two Roberts' is my second novel. Meet Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: artists, lovers, outsiders. From 1930s Glasgow to wartime London and the Fifties, this is the fictional story of two truly wild lives.

They were charismatic art celebrities - collected by major institutions, photographed by Vogue, filmed by Ken Russell for the BBC. But they lived as hard as they worked, dying young and penniless yet on the verge of a comeback.

Tender, bold and deeply personal, 'The Two Roberts' is a timely love-letter to these queer Scottish pioneers, exploring what it means to discover your voice as an artist, to find love when it’s forbidde ...more

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Combine Editions
Damian Barr’s books

Average rating: 4.07 · 4,797 ratings · 786 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	You Will Be Safe Here 4.02 avg rating — 2,117 ratings — published 2019 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Maggie & Me 4.12 avg rating — 1,814 ratings — published 2013 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Common People: An Anthology of Working Class Writers by Kit de Waal (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Damian Barr (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Malorie Blackman (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.15 avg rating — 484 ratings — published 2019 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Two Roberts 4.22 avg rating — 248 ratings — published 2025 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Imagine a Country: Ideas for a Better Future by Val McDermid (Editor), Jo Sharp (Editor), Ali Smith (Contributor) 3.86 avg rating — 133 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Speak My Language, and Other Stories: An Anthology of Gay Fiction by Torsten Højer (Editor), Nick Alexander, Alfred Corn 4.01 avg rating — 75 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Others: Writers on the power of words to help us see beyond ourselves by Charles Fernyhough (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Leila Aboulela (Goodreads Author), Gillian Allnutt 4.19 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Get It Together : Surviving Your Quarterlife Crisis 3.46 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 2004 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Out There: An Anthology of Scottish LGBT writing by Zoë Strachan (Editor), Damian Barr (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Toni Davidson (Contributor) 3.75 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tout ira bien 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Damian Barr…

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Damian’s Recent Updates

Damian is now following Mason Currey Author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
Dec 01, 2025 07:44AM · like
Damian wants to read Making Art and Making a Living: Adventures in Funding a Creative Life by Mason Currey (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 01, 2025 07:44AM · like
Damian wants to read On the Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 26, 2025 02:22AM · like
Damian rated a book really liked it Monumenta by Lara Haworth	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is such a hynoptic little book--it is about one handsome house in Belgrade which may (or may not) have the site of on or more massacres. it is soon to be demolished or somehow completely altered to make way for a monument to one of these massacr ...more
Nov 18, 2025 07:20AM · 2 likes · like · see review
Damian and 1 other person liked Chris Scotland's review of The Two Roberts: "Wonderful, evocative, moving and very memorable tale of the two Roberts - Macbryde and Colquhoun - from 1930s Glasgow and through several decades after, when men were only ever able to be friends and not lovers, at least in public; there is joy, laug" Read more of this review »
Nov 07, 2025 04:48AM · see review
Damian and 2 other people liked Robert Czapla-Schermann's review of The Two Roberts: "Beautiful, gut wrenching, heartbreaking. This is everything I want from a book but everything I hate about letting yourself be emotionally captivated. I laughed. I cried. I cried some more. And now, at the end of this, I want to reread it with differ" Read more of this review »
Nov 07, 2025 04:48AM · see review
Damian and 1 other person liked Matthew Spurr's review of The Two Roberts: "An emotional rollercoaster. Compelling, but absolutely tragic - beautifully written "
Nov 07, 2025 04:48AM · see review
Damian rated a book liked it Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
'Every horror has a moment with it glistens; after that it's just sad.' I kept returning to this sentence - the most powerful in the book, for me. In many ways this is more a of a 'grief' story than a horror (though what is more horrifying than grief ...more
Nov 07, 2025 04:35AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Damian rated a book really liked it The Edges by Angelo Tijssens (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 30, 2025 10:12AM · 1 like · like
Damian is currently reading Monumenta by Lara Haworth	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 30, 2025 10:12AM · like

More of Damian's books…

Quotes by Damian Barr (?)

“We are not all in the same boat. We are in the same storm. Some of us are on superyachts. Some of us have just the one oar.”
― Damian Barr, Imagine a Country: Ideas for a Better Future

tags: coronavirus, equality, inspirational, kindness, mental-health, wisdom

5 likes

“Reading is an act of radical empathy: turning the page instead of turning away.”
― Damian Barr, Maggie & Me

tags: feminist, inspirational, lgbtq, survivor, survivors-of-abuse

4 likes

“Maggie, tou made it possible -but not probably for me to be the man I am now.”
― Damian Barr, Maggie & Me

tags: abuse-survivors, lgbt, memoir, scotland

1 likes

See all Damian Barr's quotes »

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Around the Year i...: LeahS Summer Challenge	33	56	Aug 04, 2023 07:24AM
Around the Year i...: Revised plan: LeahS	3	24	Aug 12, 2023 03:53AM
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Around the Year i...: 26. A book related to pride	28	448	Aug 27, 2023 08:41AM
Around the Year i...: Summer Challenge 23: Raffle Entries	165	204	Sep 04, 2023 01:39AM
Around the Year i...: Sadie's ATY24	3	37	Jan 06, 2024 09:45AM
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The Mookse and th...: 2025 Booker Prize speculation	460	709	Jul 29, 2025 05:49AM

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Damian’s Quotes

“We are not all in the same boat. We are in the same storm. Some of us are on superyachts. Some of us have just the one oar.”
― Damian Barr, Imagine a Country: Ideas for a Better Future

tags: coronavirus, equality, inspirational, kindness, mental-health, wisdom

5 likes

“You don't realise how much you're holding onto until you start to let go of it. I had had loads of therapy and thought I had come to terms with who I am, but there's something in the process of writing that unlocks other experiences, other emotions and you have to be prepared for that.”
― Damian Barr, Maggie & Me

tags: memoir, publishing, survival, writing-tips

0 likes

“Researching and writing my novel has taken me to some really dark places. It is when you are in these dark places that you can see: there is always hope, there is always love.”
― Damian Barr, You Will Be Safe Here

tags: contemporary, fiction, historical-fiction, south-africa, storytelling, truth

1 likes

“The second time I try to kill a man I'm fourteen. Killing a man seems a very grown-up thing to do - like writing in Biro.”
― Damian Barr, Maggie & Me

tags: abuse-survivors, lgbt, memoir, scotland

1 likes

“Mary the Canary lives in a cloud of perfume and colours. She's an auxiliary nurse by day and a country and western singer by night: bed pans and power ballass. She's so glamorous she makes Mrs Hart look plain. She is the other woman and I'm bring trained to hate her even though I've never met her.”
― Damian Barr, Maggie & Me