My Brother's Image

by Mark Hamilton

Gay fiction/romance paperback

Genres: Historical Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1983

Reviews

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) This is one of many books I bought in the 70s and 80s that I have carted around to all the places I've lived in the past 45 years. I'm trying to make strict "keep or purge" rules about these, and this I had placed on a purge stack, but when I left for the Turner Classic Movies cruise earlier this month, I impulsively grabbed this off a stack because it was small and would fit in my carry-on with a couple of other books. Though I can't say it was worth 40 years of waiting, I am glad I read it. Published in 1983, this is one of several gay novels that Avon specialized in for a while. The plot involves an a young aristocratic gay man in 18th century Amsterdam and his troubles in both love and politics, specifically an inquisition-like witch hunt against gay people. The writing is good, the plotting occasionally a little rickety, and the conclusion a bit anti-climactic. This is not porn—the occasional descriptions of intimate behavior are discreet—but it's involving enough and makes me want to do some research into whether or not this is historically accurate. The author doesn't seem to have published anything else, which is a shame.