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For A Moment More
It’s 1993. Chris Roberts is thirty-three, HIV-positive for eight years and working at an Oxford Street hardware shop, while funerals, fear and failing health threaten to destroy him.
Then, on a balmy night in Darlinghurst, everything shifts.
At a dance party in Sydney’s gay ghetto – midway through a performance of 'Something’s Coming' by a life-sized Barbra Streisand puppet – Chris has an epiphany. Effective treatments will come. And if he wants to be around when the future arrives, he has to fight for his life.
Chris’s daily routine becomes an act of resilience and resistance, fuelled by a refusal to disappear quietly. He stares down his past, makes peace where he can and dares to imagine a time beyond HIV/AIDS.
For a Moment More captures the sharp wit, humour and fierce tenderness of those times. It’s a story about love, farewelling friends, defiance and joy. It is about laughing in the face of fear.
Then, on a balmy night in Darlinghurst, everything shifts.
At a dance party in Sydney’s gay ghetto – midway through a performance of 'Something’s Coming' by a life-sized Barbra Streisand puppet – Chris has an epiphany. Effective treatments will come. And if he wants to be around when the future arrives, he has to fight for his life.
Chris’s daily routine becomes an act of resilience and resistance, fuelled by a refusal to disappear quietly. He stares down his past, makes peace where he can and dares to imagine a time beyond HIV/AIDS.
For a Moment More captures the sharp wit, humour and fierce tenderness of those times. It’s a story about love, farewelling friends, defiance and joy. It is about laughing in the face of fear.
ebook
Published July 7, 2026
About the author
G.S. Johnston
5 books92 followersG.S. Johnston is the author of three historical novels, Sweet Bitter Cane (2019), The Cast of a Hand (2015), The Skin of Water (2012). And a fourth novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, Consumption (2011).
The novels are noted for their complex characters and well-researched settings.
His new novel, FOR A MOMENT MORE (2026) is set in 1993-96 Sydney and deals with the worst years of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
In one form or another, Johnston has always written, at first composing music and lyrics. After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels.
Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, Johnston currently lives in Canberra, Australia. He is treasurer of the Historical Novel Society Australasia. Find more fabulous things at www.gsjohnston.com
Visit him online at www.gsjohnston.com
www.facebook.com/GSJohnston.author
The novels are noted for their complex characters and well-researched settings.
His new novel, FOR A MOMENT MORE (2026) is set in 1993-96 Sydney and deals with the worst years of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
In one form or another, Johnston has always written, at first composing music and lyrics. After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels.
Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, Johnston currently lives in Canberra, Australia. He is treasurer of the Historical Novel Society Australasia. Find more fabulous things at www.gsjohnston.com
Visit him online at www.gsjohnston.com
www.facebook.com/GSJohnston.author
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 12, 2026
This is a novel that genuinely deserves to be read.
I came of age around the time and place For A Moment More is set – Sydney's Oxford Street in the early-to-mid '90s – and it really took me back.
G.S. Johnston perfectly captures the highs and lows of this era, nailing the joy and vibrancy of the LGBTIQ+ community while poignantly conveying the darker undercurrent of fear, the prejudice, and the terrible suffering of those who lived with – and died from – AIDS during this time.
It also offers fresh insight into the activism that defined those years and reminds us of the kindness and bravery of many medical practitioners on the frontline.
It's laugh-out-loud funny in places, too, using a wit that feels true to the era and the community rather than tacked on. That mix of humour sitting right next to grief is really what makes the book connect and resonate.
Without giving too much away, the postscript closing the book is the perfect touch.
Medical advances mean people with access to treatment can now expect to live nearly as long as those who are HIV-negative, making it easy to forget that HIV/AIDS remains one of the most devastating pandemics in modern history.
Books as engaging, well-researched and well-written as For A Moment More help keep history honest, hence why I think it deserves a wide readership and a place on school and university reading lists.
I came of age around the time and place For A Moment More is set – Sydney's Oxford Street in the early-to-mid '90s – and it really took me back.
G.S. Johnston perfectly captures the highs and lows of this era, nailing the joy and vibrancy of the LGBTIQ+ community while poignantly conveying the darker undercurrent of fear, the prejudice, and the terrible suffering of those who lived with – and died from – AIDS during this time.
It also offers fresh insight into the activism that defined those years and reminds us of the kindness and bravery of many medical practitioners on the frontline.
It's laugh-out-loud funny in places, too, using a wit that feels true to the era and the community rather than tacked on. That mix of humour sitting right next to grief is really what makes the book connect and resonate.
Without giving too much away, the postscript closing the book is the perfect touch.
Medical advances mean people with access to treatment can now expect to live nearly as long as those who are HIV-negative, making it easy to forget that HIV/AIDS remains one of the most devastating pandemics in modern history.
Books as engaging, well-researched and well-written as For A Moment More help keep history honest, hence why I think it deserves a wide readership and a place on school and university reading lists.
July 30, 2026
With this book G.S Johnston has quietly brought an awareness, and hopefully a deeper more compassionate understanding, of the colourful tapestry which makes up a big part of the evolved culture of Sydney’s diverse history.
The book pays homage to the unsung heroes of a time in the early 1990’s, the brave ones battling the HIV/AIDS Virus, as well as the carers and devoted medical practitioners and those equally devoted friends…they were the trail blazers.
I lived and socialised in Sydney during that time and remember well, the ripples of fear and tension, and the ignorance. I remember the quilt, and the candlelight vigils, and sadly acquaintances, and friends of friends who were affected by the virus, either directly or indirectly…its reach was rapid and rampant for quite some scary time.
Since finishing this story I find myself wanting “a moment more” in the company of those people whose gentle and empathetic personalities transcended the pages of this book…I want to hug them all, and chat a while longer…they’re so real and rare.
I loved the poetry and the quotes from movies and books that were strategically used to add levity to what might otherwise be moments of overwhelming sadness.
This book asks nothing of the reader but engenders much introspection and compassion. It goes a long way towards building an understanding of a time and culture that endured the onset of the most sudden, insidious and ravaging virus epidemic to become known to us at that time.
Thank you to G.S Johnston for writing this poignant and mindful story.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s
The book pays homage to the unsung heroes of a time in the early 1990’s, the brave ones battling the HIV/AIDS Virus, as well as the carers and devoted medical practitioners and those equally devoted friends…they were the trail blazers.
I lived and socialised in Sydney during that time and remember well, the ripples of fear and tension, and the ignorance. I remember the quilt, and the candlelight vigils, and sadly acquaintances, and friends of friends who were affected by the virus, either directly or indirectly…its reach was rapid and rampant for quite some scary time.
Since finishing this story I find myself wanting “a moment more” in the company of those people whose gentle and empathetic personalities transcended the pages of this book…I want to hug them all, and chat a while longer…they’re so real and rare.
I loved the poetry and the quotes from movies and books that were strategically used to add levity to what might otherwise be moments of overwhelming sadness.
This book asks nothing of the reader but engenders much introspection and compassion. It goes a long way towards building an understanding of a time and culture that endured the onset of the most sudden, insidious and ravaging virus epidemic to become known to us at that time.
Thank you to G.S Johnston for writing this poignant and mindful story.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s
July 25, 2026
I am old enough to remember the early days of AIDS. I remember the stories, I remember the photos.
This is a sit down and read cover to cover in one sitting book. My only diversion was to pull out my exhibition book from 'Don't Leave Me This Way - Art in the Age of AIDS. The National Gallery of Australia exhibition in 1994, which is mentioned in the book.
This is a book of fiction, but it could equally be a memoir of hundreds of men who lived and still live with AIDS, and the men who died of AIDS related conditions.
This is both a gentle and a harsh book. The structure of the sentences, the delivery of statements are at times scattergun - almost short tempered, particularly at the beginning. These are tempered by lines that are gentle and beautiful, which weave their way through the book. Quiet, soft, sublime.
Mr Johnston has written a book peopled with real characters, solid, fully formed, and well defined. Characters that you would want to meet in real life.
This is not a happy book as such, but joy can be found in it.
Tissues may be required. I was doing well until the Postscript. I am grieving still, and will carry a sense of loss for a few days I think.
Would I recommend this book? Absolutely.
This is a sit down and read cover to cover in one sitting book. My only diversion was to pull out my exhibition book from 'Don't Leave Me This Way - Art in the Age of AIDS. The National Gallery of Australia exhibition in 1994, which is mentioned in the book.
This is a book of fiction, but it could equally be a memoir of hundreds of men who lived and still live with AIDS, and the men who died of AIDS related conditions.
This is both a gentle and a harsh book. The structure of the sentences, the delivery of statements are at times scattergun - almost short tempered, particularly at the beginning. These are tempered by lines that are gentle and beautiful, which weave their way through the book. Quiet, soft, sublime.
Mr Johnston has written a book peopled with real characters, solid, fully formed, and well defined. Characters that you would want to meet in real life.
This is not a happy book as such, but joy can be found in it.
Tissues may be required. I was doing well until the Postscript. I am grieving still, and will carry a sense of loss for a few days I think.
Would I recommend this book? Absolutely.
August 5, 2026
A caring reflection on a challenging and uncertain period. I cared about all the characters in the book and wanted to know more about each of them - a reflection of the author's authentic voice coming through on the page. As Chris says in the novel, "...without people and new ideas in your lives, we all are victims, not just of HIV, but of life itself" - words to keep in mind in these fractious times.
Review of advance copy received from Author
What a gem of a story this was. Set in Sydney from 1993 to 1996 (with flashbacks), it paints a blisteringly vibrant picture of the city during its gay heyday, something that fascinated this relatively naïve Darwin boy at the time. I’d visited Sydney on several occasions during that period, even living there for a few months, and the novel excitement of it never wore off. Even when I moved there permanently in 1999, the gay ol’ magic remained for a good long while.
However, having grown up in a little city in the tropical far north, I was largely shielded from the main focus of this book. The glitter and sparkle of my Sydney jaunts barely touched on the HIV/AIDS crisis lurking in every corner of big-city gay life back then. How devastating it must have been to have actually lived and loved in the epicentre of it all.
My familiarity with the ins and outs of the virus came more than a decade later when I was working as a sexual health nurse in Darlinghurst. By that stage, treatments were successful and numerous, and residual deaths were scarce. HIV was about chronic management, about risk assessment, about harm minimisation, about education and testing.
In this book, however, the MC Chris is bombarded with the lot—actively supporting his positive friends, grieving those of them who lost their battle, volunteering for The Cause in both a political and practical capacity—all while struggling to maintain his own health, to manage his own flagging sense of hope, to find light in times that were often so very, very dark.
The author opts for a detached third-person narrative, something that I normally find stiff and uninvolving when it comes to a character journey as deeply personal as Chris’s. In “For a Moment More”, though, this choice of perspective affords the reader a layer of self-protection. We can take a small step back, because we aren’t talking to the man himself: somebody else is there telling us his story. And what a heavy-going story it is, though it’s both gravely important and intensely rewarding.
Major props to the author for such thorough research and drawing so viscerally from what I gather are his own experiences working in amongst the Ground Zero of the time. It’s this aspect—as much as the affecting tale of Chris and friends—that will leave the reader with the kind of insight that is so lacking in modern times. The author shows us in bold colours just how horrendously these people suffered. He lays out in loving detail how the gays, lesbians, trans people, and straight allies really pulled together in the midst of a crisis that spanned a good fifteen years. Kind of puts the self-aggrandising bleating on today’s social media into stark perspective.
Don’t come to this book for romance and spice. The relationships are a realistic reflection of the times, with all their good and bad points. Spice is covered in vague references only, and this is probably the only area in which I found the book lacking. Certainly, it’s a personal thing—for me, the ostensibly coy treatment of sex was at odds with the candid nature of the rest of the book, but then there’s a rather tiresome pearl-clutching trend in gay fiction these days, so the author is, in effect, giving readers what they want. Far from being salacious or gratuitous, I feel that some more frank detail here would have gone a long way in helping us understand what was a major part of the characters’ lives. But that’s just me, and maybe it’s just me standing there scratching my head when others subconsciously fill in the blanks—which is precisely the way Writing 101 tells us to serve up our stories to readers (and I duly extend a middle finger at.)
Chris, Tom, Jeanie, Bernie, Shirley, Aaron and Gino—oh God, Gino—lived in the core of my chest for days, and the scars are still very much there. It’s been hard as Hades not to fill this review with expletives, the whole thing knocked me about so much. But it was good, so good. And just to knock myself about even more, I’m going to leave you with a quote that shredded me to bits and spat me out in a mass of snot and tears:
“‘Stay,’ Chris said, a whisper in his ear, ‘for a moment more.’
He was smiling, his face peaceful. His colour had lightened, more like himself.
He was gone.
He was free.
Be at peace.”
However, having grown up in a little city in the tropical far north, I was largely shielded from the main focus of this book. The glitter and sparkle of my Sydney jaunts barely touched on the HIV/AIDS crisis lurking in every corner of big-city gay life back then. How devastating it must have been to have actually lived and loved in the epicentre of it all.
My familiarity with the ins and outs of the virus came more than a decade later when I was working as a sexual health nurse in Darlinghurst. By that stage, treatments were successful and numerous, and residual deaths were scarce. HIV was about chronic management, about risk assessment, about harm minimisation, about education and testing.
In this book, however, the MC Chris is bombarded with the lot—actively supporting his positive friends, grieving those of them who lost their battle, volunteering for The Cause in both a political and practical capacity—all while struggling to maintain his own health, to manage his own flagging sense of hope, to find light in times that were often so very, very dark.
The author opts for a detached third-person narrative, something that I normally find stiff and uninvolving when it comes to a character journey as deeply personal as Chris’s. In “For a Moment More”, though, this choice of perspective affords the reader a layer of self-protection. We can take a small step back, because we aren’t talking to the man himself: somebody else is there telling us his story. And what a heavy-going story it is, though it’s both gravely important and intensely rewarding.
Major props to the author for such thorough research and drawing so viscerally from what I gather are his own experiences working in amongst the Ground Zero of the time. It’s this aspect—as much as the affecting tale of Chris and friends—that will leave the reader with the kind of insight that is so lacking in modern times. The author shows us in bold colours just how horrendously these people suffered. He lays out in loving detail how the gays, lesbians, trans people, and straight allies really pulled together in the midst of a crisis that spanned a good fifteen years. Kind of puts the self-aggrandising bleating on today’s social media into stark perspective.
Don’t come to this book for romance and spice. The relationships are a realistic reflection of the times, with all their good and bad points. Spice is covered in vague references only, and this is probably the only area in which I found the book lacking. Certainly, it’s a personal thing—for me, the ostensibly coy treatment of sex was at odds with the candid nature of the rest of the book, but then there’s a rather tiresome pearl-clutching trend in gay fiction these days, so the author is, in effect, giving readers what they want. Far from being salacious or gratuitous, I feel that some more frank detail here would have gone a long way in helping us understand what was a major part of the characters’ lives. But that’s just me, and maybe it’s just me standing there scratching my head when others subconsciously fill in the blanks—which is precisely the way Writing 101 tells us to serve up our stories to readers (and I duly extend a middle finger at.)
Chris, Tom, Jeanie, Bernie, Shirley, Aaron and Gino—oh God, Gino—lived in the core of my chest for days, and the scars are still very much there. It’s been hard as Hades not to fill this review with expletives, the whole thing knocked me about so much. But it was good, so good. And just to knock myself about even more, I’m going to leave you with a quote that shredded me to bits and spat me out in a mass of snot and tears:
“‘Stay,’ Chris said, a whisper in his ear, ‘for a moment more.’
He was smiling, his face peaceful. His colour had lightened, more like himself.
He was gone.
He was free.
Be at peace.”
Review of advance copy received from Author
Review of an advance copy from the author
For A Moment More is an elegy for those who suffered during the HIV/AIDs crisis of the ‘90s. Yet the novel is not a mournful lament. It is vibrant in its depiction of Sydney’s Oxford Street with its nightclubs and dance parties. Through the use of wry humour, the reader is given space to experience the trauma but not be overwhelmed by it. Johnston provides an insightful portrayal of Chris, a gay man who lives with the virus but won’t give up hope that ‘something great is coming’ by way of a medical breakthrough in the management of the disease. Along the way, the reader discovers the painful splintering of families as they grapple with their sons and brothers not only ‘coming out’ but also being infected by a deadly illness. Denial, disgust or deliberate distancing are the result. But there is love and kindness found in the caring world of the LGBTIQ+ community.
I always appreciate books that open my eyes to different viewpoints and hidden histories. I lived in Sydney through those years (and lost a family friend to AIDS due to a contaminated blood transfusion) but was unaware of the depth of courage it took for gay men to try to beat HIV/AIDS, suffering not only horrendous symptoms but also the debilitating side effects of multiple drug treatments.
Johnston’s prose is lyrical and deft. His characters are memorable, the dialogue amusing. Keep a box of tissues handy. There are sweet, poignant notes throughout that brought tears to my eyes. Most importantly, For A Moment More is a significant novel, reminding us of the miracle of modern medicine, and that subsequent generations are lucky HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. Those who suffered should not be forgotten or condemned.
For A Moment More is an elegy for those who suffered during the HIV/AIDs crisis of the ‘90s. Yet the novel is not a mournful lament. It is vibrant in its depiction of Sydney’s Oxford Street with its nightclubs and dance parties. Through the use of wry humour, the reader is given space to experience the trauma but not be overwhelmed by it. Johnston provides an insightful portrayal of Chris, a gay man who lives with the virus but won’t give up hope that ‘something great is coming’ by way of a medical breakthrough in the management of the disease. Along the way, the reader discovers the painful splintering of families as they grapple with their sons and brothers not only ‘coming out’ but also being infected by a deadly illness. Denial, disgust or deliberate distancing are the result. But there is love and kindness found in the caring world of the LGBTIQ+ community.
I always appreciate books that open my eyes to different viewpoints and hidden histories. I lived in Sydney through those years (and lost a family friend to AIDS due to a contaminated blood transfusion) but was unaware of the depth of courage it took for gay men to try to beat HIV/AIDS, suffering not only horrendous symptoms but also the debilitating side effects of multiple drug treatments.
Johnston’s prose is lyrical and deft. His characters are memorable, the dialogue amusing. Keep a box of tissues handy. There are sweet, poignant notes throughout that brought tears to my eyes. Most importantly, For A Moment More is a significant novel, reminding us of the miracle of modern medicine, and that subsequent generations are lucky HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. Those who suffered should not be forgotten or condemned.
Review of advance copy received from Author
From the moment I landed in Sydney’s Oxford Street on a Saturday night in the early 1990s in Chapter 1 right through until the final paragraph of For a Moment More, I was immersed in a world that much of society knows little or nothing about: a world inhabited by gay men living with HIV/AIDS in that period when treatments were emerging, ignorance, fear and prejudice were
rife, and hope was beginning to flicker on.
G S Johnston has gifted us a novel that is destined to become an Australian classic; a novel so visceral and important that it’s likely to be set as a text in classrooms and lecture halls.
Days after closing the book, I still miss Chris who we accompany through the minutiae of daily life at home, to work, medical appointments, hospitalisation, funerals, parties and more. He’s a lovely man, a good and complex man, a young man grappling with the likelihood of his impending death. A gay man. He’s dealing with complicated family issues (‘come out, come out, wherever you are’) and has a remarkable capacity for friendship, loyalty, altruism and introspection.
This novel is raw, intimate, real, gritty, darkly humorous and sometimes confronting in its unflinchingly authentic portrayal of what life was like for gay men in those grief-laden, terrifying times.
There’s such depth too, and nuance. And it’s a gripping, multi-faceted story, well told.
I rarely reread books but I’ll be reading this one again very soon because I know it has more to offer than I gleaned the first time through.
Thank you, G S Johnston, for writing from the heart, touching my soul, and deepening my knowledge and awareness.
rife, and hope was beginning to flicker on.
G S Johnston has gifted us a novel that is destined to become an Australian classic; a novel so visceral and important that it’s likely to be set as a text in classrooms and lecture halls.
Days after closing the book, I still miss Chris who we accompany through the minutiae of daily life at home, to work, medical appointments, hospitalisation, funerals, parties and more. He’s a lovely man, a good and complex man, a young man grappling with the likelihood of his impending death. A gay man. He’s dealing with complicated family issues (‘come out, come out, wherever you are’) and has a remarkable capacity for friendship, loyalty, altruism and introspection.
This novel is raw, intimate, real, gritty, darkly humorous and sometimes confronting in its unflinchingly authentic portrayal of what life was like for gay men in those grief-laden, terrifying times.
There’s such depth too, and nuance. And it’s a gripping, multi-faceted story, well told.
I rarely reread books but I’ll be reading this one again very soon because I know it has more to offer than I gleaned the first time through.
Thank you, G S Johnston, for writing from the heart, touching my soul, and deepening my knowledge and awareness.
Review of advance copy received from Author
There is so much we have forgotten—or simply never knew—about life in gay Sydney as the HIV/AIDS epidemic took hold. The virus devastated a generation of young men, alongside the communities who loved and supported them. G.S. Johnston’s 'For a Moment More 'is a must read for those wanting to understand the powerful determination of the gay men who survived and that handful of tenacious medical pioneers who broke ranks and forged a path forward. A beautiful tribute to the right to live.
July 21, 2026
Filled with memorable, relatable characters, this engaging story is led by Chris, a country boy who came to Sydney in the 1970s on a journey of discovery. Told over three pivotal years in the mid-1990s, Johnston's new novel breathes life into a generation of gay men who have been largely forgotten. Their courage and determination needs to be recognised more widely, and a novel is the perfect vessel. I read this in one sitting.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews