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This Brutal House
On the steps of New York's City Hall, five ageing Mothers sit in silent protest. They are the guardians of the vogue ball community - queer men who opened their hearts and homes to countless lost Children, providing safe spaces for them to explore their true selves.
Through epochs of city nightlife, from draconian to liberal, the Children have been going missing; their absences ignored by the authorities and uninvestigated by the police. In a final act of dissent the Mothers have come to pray: to expose their personal struggle beneath our age of protest, and commemorate their loss until justice is served.
Watching from City Hall's windows is city clerk, Teddy. Raised by the Mothers, he is now charged with brokering an uneasy truce.
With echoes of James Baldwin, Marilynne Robinson and Rachel Kushner, Niven Govinden asks what happens when a generation remembered for a single, lavish decade has been forced to grow up, and what it means to be a parent in a confused and complex society.
'Niven Govinden is a true force of fierceness and beauty' Olivia Laing
'A vital book' Andrew McMillan
'Vivid prose reinventing ideas of motherhood, belonging and taking us into the community of drag balls and protest, both personal and political' Jenni Fagan
'A powerful and poetic book' Kerry Hudson
Through epochs of city nightlife, from draconian to liberal, the Children have been going missing; their absences ignored by the authorities and uninvestigated by the police. In a final act of dissent the Mothers have come to pray: to expose their personal struggle beneath our age of protest, and commemorate their loss until justice is served.
Watching from City Hall's windows is city clerk, Teddy. Raised by the Mothers, he is now charged with brokering an uneasy truce.
With echoes of James Baldwin, Marilynne Robinson and Rachel Kushner, Niven Govinden asks what happens when a generation remembered for a single, lavish decade has been forced to grow up, and what it means to be a parent in a confused and complex society.
'Niven Govinden is a true force of fierceness and beauty' Olivia Laing
'A vital book' Andrew McMillan
'Vivid prose reinventing ideas of motherhood, belonging and taking us into the community of drag balls and protest, both personal and political' Jenni Fagan
'A powerful and poetic book' Kerry Hudson
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2019
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1119 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
June 24, 2019
I think the best novels say as much in their form as well as in their content. Niven Govinden’s new novel “This Brutal House” is about a silent protest staged by several mothers from different drag houses in front of NYC’s City Hall. For years these mothers housed many queer children who were forced to leave the homes of their biological families. But when these children have gone missing the police force haven’t taken their disappearances seriously and even used these losses as an opportunity to harass and interrogate the lifestyle embodied by these drag houses. Frustrated and tired of trying to form a dialogue these mothers sit in silent protest because “we are past words.” The author conveys the complexity of this political act in a number of ways. Govinden invokes their collective voice to capture the tenor and sweep of their emotions and experiences. But he also relates the story of Teddy, a child from these drag houses who now works in City Hall and is caught between these two very different social spheres. By switching between these points of view and relating large sections through dialogue Govinden allows us to wholly feel this complicated situation and hear everything that’s left unspoken in the midst of these drag mothers’ mute resistance.
Read my full review of This Brutal House by Niven Govinden on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of This Brutal House by Niven Govinden on LonesomeReader
February 20, 2020
We need more stories told by and about queer people of color, and we need more stories about the ballroom scene from 1980s New York City. Unfortunately, though it tried, Niven Govinden's "This Brutal House" is not what we need.
Thrust into a protest on the steps of City Hall by the Mothers of the famous NYC ballroom houses, a frazzled story unfolds following Teddy, a former child of a House, who grew up, went to college, and began working in City Hall - offering help to his Mothers as they silently protest the inaction of the City as queer and trans people of color go missing, are killed, and forgotten. With flashbacks and experimental form, the novel talks about the ballroom scene and the dangers faced by black trans women.
Unfortunately, Govinden's writing got in the way of a potentially important story. Absent any character development and an attempt at minimalist plot, had the author spent more time developing plot and character and less time using a thesaurus to write in the most obscenely opaque prose imaginable, this book might have been readable. Instead, the book dragged, leaving me unable to connect with anything in the story, leaving me confused at many point about what was happening (many of the chapters are written in just dialogue - without even identifying characters).
A plotless, nearly-characterless book with overwritten prose, this book is definitely one to skip.
Thrust into a protest on the steps of City Hall by the Mothers of the famous NYC ballroom houses, a frazzled story unfolds following Teddy, a former child of a House, who grew up, went to college, and began working in City Hall - offering help to his Mothers as they silently protest the inaction of the City as queer and trans people of color go missing, are killed, and forgotten. With flashbacks and experimental form, the novel talks about the ballroom scene and the dangers faced by black trans women.
Unfortunately, Govinden's writing got in the way of a potentially important story. Absent any character development and an attempt at minimalist plot, had the author spent more time developing plot and character and less time using a thesaurus to write in the most obscenely opaque prose imaginable, this book might have been readable. Instead, the book dragged, leaving me unable to connect with anything in the story, leaving me confused at many point about what was happening (many of the chapters are written in just dialogue - without even identifying characters).
A plotless, nearly-characterless book with overwritten prose, this book is definitely one to skip.
September 25, 2021
2.5, rounded up.
Coming after Govinden's latest novel, Diary of a Film, which was a 4.5 read for me, this was a major disappointment. I think my main problem is there is just really not enough going on plot-wise to justify 289 pages - indeed, there is barely any plot to speak of - and the long philosophical musings were so ephemeral that they were gone from my mind as soon as I read them.
There WERE a couple of set pieces that stuck to a storyline that were memorable - most prominently the section about Teddy and the con woman in Chanel's. But too often I was confused as to what was even going on, or what anyone's motives were (most glaringly, why Teddy leaves the gun with the Mothers, resulting in their incarceration). And certain elements were far too vague - it was not till halfway through the book that I could even determine whether Sherry was a cisgender female, a trans girl, or a boy in drag (although maybe that was intentional/the point).
And much like The House of Impossible Beauties, for a novel about drag ball culture, very little of the action is centered around the balls themselves. For that, I guess we'll have to content ourselves with reruns of 'Pose'.
Coming after Govinden's latest novel, Diary of a Film, which was a 4.5 read for me, this was a major disappointment. I think my main problem is there is just really not enough going on plot-wise to justify 289 pages - indeed, there is barely any plot to speak of - and the long philosophical musings were so ephemeral that they were gone from my mind as soon as I read them.
There WERE a couple of set pieces that stuck to a storyline that were memorable - most prominently the section about Teddy and the con woman in Chanel's. But too often I was confused as to what was even going on, or what anyone's motives were (most glaringly, why Teddy leaves the gun with the Mothers, resulting in their incarceration). And certain elements were far too vague - it was not till halfway through the book that I could even determine whether Sherry was a cisgender female, a trans girl, or a boy in drag (although maybe that was intentional/the point).
And much like The House of Impossible Beauties, for a novel about drag ball culture, very little of the action is centered around the balls themselves. For that, I guess we'll have to content ourselves with reruns of 'Pose'.
March 11, 2020
This Boring House. It took me forever to finish this book because I kept falling asleep whenever I tried to get through a chunk of it. The subject matter should have been interesting, but it was told in such a way that everything felt drab, dreary and tedious. There are no characters or characterisation. It frequently lapses into silly ranting stream-of-consciousness nonsense. There are too many juvenile experimental ideas floating around for it to be taken seriously at all, which is a shame because its a missed opportunity to learn about a rather fascinating subculture from recent decades whose influence is felt more strongly today than ever. This story was a badly executed mess. If Niven Govinden were to come up with a bestselling novel that netted him the Booker, Pulitzer and Nobel prizes, I still wouldn't go near it after this.
October 29, 2019
This Brutal House, Niven Govinden's fifth novel, moves between three distinctive voices. First, the collective protest of five drag queens, or the 'Mothers' as they refer to themselves, who are sitting silently on the steps of New York's City Hall to mark the disappearances of a number of their children; the Mothers took these queer children in when nobody else would have them, and have tried to protect them ever since. Second, the voice of the 'vogue caller', the narrator at vogue balls who tells the queens to 'work it', to 'walk', to 'be nothing less than tens'. Third, the more traditional third-person narration of Teddy, who is now an adult but who was once one of the Mothers' children, and who is both loyal and conflicted about their legacy; he's already lied to them about the fate of one of their Children, trans girl Sherry, because he wanted to support the narrative they're telling themselves; his own experience with them had elements of both affirmation and constant competition. This story has things to say about queer legacies, about the fears of the ageing queens who want to leave something behind, but also about how children don't always rebel in the ways that rebellious elders want them to.
The Mothers' collective narration is strongly evocative, but I found that Govindan's stylised prose didn't work so well when he's telling Teddy's story. Teddy's complex relationship to the Mothers is thoughtfully handled, and Govinden is strong on vignette - an encounter between Teddy and an older woman of colour in a Chanel store is memorable. However, the non-naturalistic dialogue that's effective in certain sections of this book lets Govinden down when he's trying to make Teddy's world come to life, with characters sounding stilted: "Don't be so old fashioned, kid! You're standing in the middle of the greatest city of the world where anything can happen." Govinden is better at the banter of the drag queens, and their sense of rhythm comes through in the sections that repeat single words, which I took less as pages we should read sentence by sentence and more as pages to be taken in at one go. Nevertheless, this novel could have been more powerful if it had been less constrained by its own form. 3.5 stars.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
The Mothers' collective narration is strongly evocative, but I found that Govindan's stylised prose didn't work so well when he's telling Teddy's story. Teddy's complex relationship to the Mothers is thoughtfully handled, and Govinden is strong on vignette - an encounter between Teddy and an older woman of colour in a Chanel store is memorable. However, the non-naturalistic dialogue that's effective in certain sections of this book lets Govinden down when he's trying to make Teddy's world come to life, with characters sounding stilted: "Don't be so old fashioned, kid! You're standing in the middle of the greatest city of the world where anything can happen." Govinden is better at the banter of the drag queens, and their sense of rhythm comes through in the sections that repeat single words, which I took less as pages we should read sentence by sentence and more as pages to be taken in at one go. Nevertheless, this novel could have been more powerful if it had been less constrained by its own form. 3.5 stars.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
June 1, 2019
I had high hopes for this book: having read Niven Govinden's 'Black Bread, White Beer' a couple of years ago and been struck by his confident and alternative handling of a subject (miscarriage) so often portrayed from a mother's perspective.
However, sadly my expectations were dashed as I found 'This Brutal House' impenetrable. The narrative is relayed in the plural first person of 'we' distancing the reader from individual personalities and experiences to the extent that I found it almost impossible to follow the story arc or understand the timeline as it shifts between the protest outside City Hall and the experiences of the men and the children they took into their care when all others turned away;
"Any child who had the temerity to approach us in the street or at battles, whose hunger for what we served went beyond a passing interest, was adopted. A battalion of dancers training for war. A drag army waiting to conquer. For this we expected obedience, and loyalty; and even when both were tested, we still opened our homes."
Govinden is undoubtedly a gifted wordsmith, using lyrical language and sentence structures to hold out on one';s palm and explore from different angles. However, for me, this novel failed to create the impact it intended.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing an advance copy with me in return for an honest review.
However, sadly my expectations were dashed as I found 'This Brutal House' impenetrable. The narrative is relayed in the plural first person of 'we' distancing the reader from individual personalities and experiences to the extent that I found it almost impossible to follow the story arc or understand the timeline as it shifts between the protest outside City Hall and the experiences of the men and the children they took into their care when all others turned away;
"Any child who had the temerity to approach us in the street or at battles, whose hunger for what we served went beyond a passing interest, was adopted. A battalion of dancers training for war. A drag army waiting to conquer. For this we expected obedience, and loyalty; and even when both were tested, we still opened our homes."
Govinden is undoubtedly a gifted wordsmith, using lyrical language and sentence structures to hold out on one';s palm and explore from different angles. However, for me, this novel failed to create the impact it intended.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing an advance copy with me in return for an honest review.
September 24, 2019
A very ballsy work, that wastes no time explaining anything about the ball culture and instead generously gives space for the voice of a marginalised community that is rarely being heard. Govinden does a lot of exciting things with the structure of this novel (if it can even be considered that) with some working more than others.
My favourite parts were definitely the Teddy chapters (the part at the Channel store was absolutely brilliant and heartbreaking). It's a very thought provoking work, reminding me of the real life story of Marsha P. Johnson and Paris is Burning.
My only complaint is that I wish the story was more concrete. Much of the novel is written in a plural first person narration that almost ventures into stream of consciousness territory, giving us the backbones of the story, with the most interesting elements and the things I wanted to know more about falling through the cracks.
My favourite parts were definitely the Teddy chapters (the part at the Channel store was absolutely brilliant and heartbreaking). It's a very thought provoking work, reminding me of the real life story of Marsha P. Johnson and Paris is Burning.
My only complaint is that I wish the story was more concrete. Much of the novel is written in a plural first person narration that almost ventures into stream of consciousness territory, giving us the backbones of the story, with the most interesting elements and the things I wanted to know more about falling through the cracks.
January 7, 2022
This was a challenging read so I really understand why it divides opinion, but I found it so compelling. So much remains unspoken or without a concrete answer, which seems fitting for a book centering around a silent protest. The form is experimental, moving between the five Mothers speaking as a collective (almost like a Greek chorus in their use of "we"), to Teddy (who has been raised by them, feels an obligation to protect, but doesn't fully understand. He's trying to find a way to work from within the system, where the Mothers reject that altogether), to the Vogue Caller (I admire the audacity to fill 10 straight pages with different categories!). Readers who prefer novels that are plot-heavy or focused on character development may be disappointed here, but if you're willing to embrace the unconventional and non-linear form then I think there's a lot to gain from reading this.
It reminded me a little of Joseph Cassara's House of Impossible Beauties in that it gives you a snapshot of characters whose lives revolve around the ball scene but only gives you glimpses of that from time to time. Instead its focus is on so many enduring topics, from the violence faced by marginalised people in America (specifically Black trans folk), police brutality/indifference, the inherent disadvantage some people face from the system, the struggle to get your voice heard or receive answers, etc. The view on the Mothers and the children they take in is also not an easy one, it shows the selfishness, hurt, failings and more.
I don't feel my review can do justice to everything this book is saying, and I'm definitely coming away not wholly satisfied (Teddy's actions towards the end specifically don't fully make sense to me, but then I'm not sure they fully made sense to him in the cold light of day!) But on the whole, this feels like a novel that will stay with me.
It reminded me a little of Joseph Cassara's House of Impossible Beauties in that it gives you a snapshot of characters whose lives revolve around the ball scene but only gives you glimpses of that from time to time. Instead its focus is on so many enduring topics, from the violence faced by marginalised people in America (specifically Black trans folk), police brutality/indifference, the inherent disadvantage some people face from the system, the struggle to get your voice heard or receive answers, etc. The view on the Mothers and the children they take in is also not an easy one, it shows the selfishness, hurt, failings and more.
I don't feel my review can do justice to everything this book is saying, and I'm definitely coming away not wholly satisfied (Teddy's actions towards the end specifically don't fully make sense to me, but then I'm not sure they fully made sense to him in the cold light of day!) But on the whole, this feels like a novel that will stay with me.
September 12, 2020
Disappointing, having attended a book fair where Niven Govinden read from his book, I was excited to read his take on the whole New York Ballroom scene, sadly many of the stylistic choices have left me disappointed. I found this book slow moving and tricky to follow, much of it is written in the third person, often as internal dialogues but without clarity as to who is speaking which is very confusing. There is a similar scene of dialogue between several of the 'children' again with no demarcation of who is speaking but it works better to reflect a conversation. I admire the courage to take 9 pages where you just write WALK repeatedly, with one line of other text per page. Also some of the prose is also fantastically written and very evocative of NYC at that time. The colour, vibrancy, energy and vitality of the ballroom scene as reflected in the TV series POSE is sadly missing from this book.
June 10, 2019
I was excited to read This Brutal House after having watched the BBC series Pose, I was keen to discover more of the fascinating stories around the Vogue balls and the LGBT community in New York. This Brutal House started well but it never seemed to actually get to the point of the story, as a reader I felt lost in the story never knowing what it was actually about - Teddy & his life, the Mothers & their protest or Teddy & the Mothers relationship. The Vogue Caller chapters were strange, I'm not sure what seven pages of the word "Walk" with just a few other phrases thrown in every now & then brought to the story.
The ending just left me puzzled.
I was given a copy of This Brutal House from Net Galley and the Publishers in exchange for an honest review.
The ending just left me puzzled.
I was given a copy of This Brutal House from Net Galley and the Publishers in exchange for an honest review.
August 14, 2019
The sentences are stunningly written, which makes for great extracts in reviews. The struggle is that the writing on a whole is not captivating enough to make up for the lack of plot. It doesn’t help that Govinder has set large parts of the novel from an outsider’s perspective, which effectively is the perspective of the most boring character who is almost entirely removed from the central action in the story.
I’m not entirely sure that this novel would appeal to anyone who hadn’t seen Paris Is Burning and the question then is why anyone would be interested in a story that is so much less in every way.
I’m not entirely sure that this novel would appeal to anyone who hadn’t seen Paris Is Burning and the question then is why anyone would be interested in a story that is so much less in every way.
June 10, 2019
It’s been a long time since I didn’t finish a book, but 40% in, and I really can’t read any more.
The Mothers (men in drag) are camped on the steps of city hall in silent protest, as the number of children they shelter increasingly disappear.
I struggled to get into this – partly because of the lack of characters, beyond Teddy, one of the boys, and Sherry, now disappeared; what finished me off was what I shall call the ‘category’ chapter – page after page after page of ‘category’ lists which did me in ☹
The Mothers (men in drag) are camped on the steps of city hall in silent protest, as the number of children they shelter increasingly disappear.
I struggled to get into this – partly because of the lack of characters, beyond Teddy, one of the boys, and Sherry, now disappeared; what finished me off was what I shall call the ‘category’ chapter – page after page after page of ‘category’ lists which did me in ☹
November 18, 2020
I admire Govinden's attempt at bringing the ballroom culture and the LGBT community of the time to life as well as Govinden's experimental style but for me this novel did not work. It made the family and community that the ballroom culture and the general house culture stood for come across as quite horrible and as though every single person, except for the main character Teddy, was selfish. I personally did not vibe with this book and would rather suggest the tv show Pose to those who want to gain an insight into the world of house mothers and ballroom categories.
May 19, 2019
This was not for me. I did not engage with the narrator as it was all phrased as 'we' but I could not get enough of a grip on who 'we' were to particularly care. The prose was too dense and did not seem to be going anywhere. Sorry but I could not read this.
August 21, 2024
2.5 rounded down unfortunately. stories are important, but so are the ways in which they are told. i don’t think this read was for me.
December 27, 2020
Vaya, qué difícil hacer una reseña de este libro. Puedo decir que me alegro mucho de haber dado con él; leer algo tan original y desde una perspectiva tan específica es algo raro y que merece la pena atesorar. Como ejercicio de estilo es irregular: su prosa tiene momentos de claridad y limpieza meridianas, pero también se vuelve opaca y confusa a ratos. Las motivaciones principales de Teddy se vuelven incomprensibles hacia el último tercio, lo que hace que su narración pierda fuelle, y ese es el problema principal de esta novela, creo yo.
Lo que no se le puede negar es que en la era de Pose y de la fascinación por el ball culture elegir narrar hechos relacionados con las comunidades de los márgenes en clave de conflicto entre la brutalidad de las vidas y las relaciones de las personas que las forman vs el respeto por las normas "reales" de una sociedad que te rechaza es una elección atrevida y novedosa. No me arrepiento de haberlo conocido.
Lo que no se le puede negar es que en la era de Pose y de la fascinación por el ball culture elegir narrar hechos relacionados con las comunidades de los márgenes en clave de conflicto entre la brutalidad de las vidas y las relaciones de las personas que las forman vs el respeto por las normas "reales" de una sociedad que te rechaza es una elección atrevida y novedosa. No me arrepiento de haberlo conocido.
January 26, 2023
4.5 / 5 stars
Really enjoyed this book - glad I picked up another Govinden. Didn't enjoy it AS much as Diary of a Film but I think it was more the subject matter was heavier/it was a protest novel so not meant to be as 'enjoyable'. Nonetheless, still a very very good book!
Story is a mix of narratives from the Mothers who protest outside city hall after their children continually go missing and their cases aren't properly investigated by the City and Teddy who is one of their children that works at City Hall acting as a middleman between the Mothers and the City.
Favourite scene of the whole book was when Teddy entered Chanel store to look at things to buy Sherry even though he couldn't afford it.
Really enjoyed this book - glad I picked up another Govinden. Didn't enjoy it AS much as Diary of a Film but I think it was more the subject matter was heavier/it was a protest novel so not meant to be as 'enjoyable'. Nonetheless, still a very very good book!
Story is a mix of narratives from the Mothers who protest outside city hall after their children continually go missing and their cases aren't properly investigated by the City and Teddy who is one of their children that works at City Hall acting as a middleman between the Mothers and the City.
Favourite scene of the whole book was when Teddy entered Chanel store to look at things to buy Sherry even though he couldn't afford it.
November 30, 2025
Some wildly beautiful and insightful writing but would agree with (some of) other reviews on the plot/structure, it’s minimal on the concrete events and reads a lot like musings (for alot of the time). Poetic and powerful yes, but for 300 ish pages, hmmmm, I’m not sure exactly, but the actual read became less memorable than its scope/topic/ideas, or something like that. Still I found it strong and would not discourage any love for it.
Read
August 16, 2022I thought I’d like this book, and I really tried to. Unfortunately, for me, the narration was so distant that I kept me from engaging with any of the characters. DNF.
April 28, 2023
I really liked it but I felt like some of the dialogue was very unrealistic and basically was there to make a point.
June 26, 2021
ambitious but, despite some shining moments, overwritten & failed by its focus on form
January 14, 2022
This book had such a profound impression on me. I found its opening pages, told through a collective ‘we’ of grieving Mothers, fiercely haunting and somewhat discomforting. Govinden does not skirt around the ugliness of discrimination, racism and homophobia at the centre of this novel, without which the queer vogue ball culture would never have become so vital and so prolific. Through Govinden’s writing we dwell in the liminal spaces of the city in which queerness, blackness and gender nonconformity is performed and celebrated, and then we are brutally confronted with the realities of how society reacts to this ‘otherness’ within its own public spaces. I love how this book consistently changes voice and perspective, shifting ideas of agency and blame around the city. Its accumulation of voices and accomodation of their silences builds to a point of great urgency and tragedy. Govinden brilliantly pays homage to the multitudinous queer culture of 80s New York without shying away from its contradictions and indecencies.
‘Our presence; a physical mass of our discontent’
‘We—men; older than the children who flocked around us, drawn to the vogue balls we created, the family we promised—became Mothers because we no longer had mothers of our own’
‘We walk along cinema aisles, and across seats, where members of our Houses are giving out hand-jobs and the like to cover the rent’
‘it should not only be lost pageant queens whose faces grace the back of milk cartons but girls who are trapped inside the bodies of boys’
‘We finally had use for the bodies we had spent so long starving and pumping. We learned the power of our physical strength’
‘They had no stomach for what we were, but still respected the art; from a city that seemingly had the protest ground out of it, up we sprang, naive, hopeful, silent’
‘competing in vogue balls; finding love. The pride felt around a swelling dinner table. This was all of our doing: vogue houses and their growing families; each looking out for the other’
‘We no longer use words because they are a defunct currency. What we say carries no value in this world; pennies rolled along the street that fall in the gutter’
‘To the naked eye, those squinting at us from the subway entrance, a distance of a block and a half, we represent something far more organised than we actually are’
‘A girl never told as a boy that he was good, had goodness in him, needs to hear it as she becomes her true self’
‘Our job is to soften; untangle all that knots her insides’
‘Neglect recognises neglect, and all the ugly shit that comes with it’
‘The vulnerability of the group of them sleeping out there tears me up. But, their choice. Their choice’
‘It was a lesson in consequences: by protecting the Mothers from truth, he was also shielding himself from a darker fear he was still unable to articulate’
‘We fight, Teddy boy, but there is always love here. The balls started because we needed to find love. Ways to love ourselves and be proud’
‘If she wanted to fuck with people she would do the grocery shopping in drags; teased hair and full makeup, in an outfit least suited to the time of day: ass on show and pushed-up tits at the deli counter’
‘her definition of walking was designed to make the crowd reconsider themselves and how their bodies moved’
‘Category is: voguing gave me life realness. Category is: voguing is my truth realness. Category is: house music all night long realness’
‘Category is: cocoa butter bitch realness. Category is: back to Africa realness. Category is: civil rights realness’
‘Category is: closet queen realness. Category is: only at weekends realness. Category is: your mamma doesn’t know realness’
‘Without these bitches, you’d be voguing in the kitchen when your family’s at church. Wearing lipstick in the bathroom. These Mothers unshackled you, so give it up. They create the space to be your queer selves. Keep it up. Turn it up’
‘their ramshackle wake; less to do with celebrating her, more getting their stories straight; rewriting the history that would be remembered later’
Police ‘Tells us nothing. Someone who was living with yous but yous don’t know their full name? [...] Or their gender. Have yous remembered anything more on that?’
‘I’m wondering why it would be that a man of his young age would be sharing an apartment with much older persons if it wasn’t about drugs. Yous not family, are yous?’
‘how everything he has achieved and will achieve will always be reduced; negated by strangers because of his skin tone and how he speaks’
‘conflict is essentially inertia interspersed with fighting’
‘you were no longer being indulged; that we could not be talked into competing in drag; that our femininity in some cases went beyond drag’
‘Fear that they’d be found out as exploiting minors. Are you really going to forget the nonsense they got themselves into? Their mania for taking our money? They were our bosses’
‘The home in that moment seems a juxtaposition of both the impenetrable and the vulnerable’
‘boredom seeping from behind the frosted door; his body, too, absorbing and then oozing frustration’
‘the combined heat of sweat, testosterone and shit; horny bastards scraping shit and animal carcass. Noses chapped to the pink from the cold’
‘The excesses of the stripe search took us back to darker times, when we were no longer in control of our bodies or bodily functions; a reminder that the state owned every inch of our flesh’
‘We could strip down to the barest of underwear at the balls, proud of how our bodies looked and moved’
‘We do not have the strength to create something so precious to watch it being torn apart’
‘Dressed in the same clothes they were arrested in: joggers, wigs and shawls; nothing made them look serious’
‘Don’t think that we fail to notice things ‘cos we’re running around in cut-off denims trying to be beautiful’
‘The custards, baked in coffee cups, are barely set, and sweet. Teddy boy, you would love it. The consistency is silky, the taste, eggy and rich [...] all the good stuff is like gold dust, here’
‘We see flesh and blood misunderstandings, wishing to challenge what is attributed to us’
‘We are old and lack vision in their eyes, needed now only for our banknotes and our image as patron saints of neglected causes’
‘We are undimmed’
‘Our presence; a physical mass of our discontent’
‘We—men; older than the children who flocked around us, drawn to the vogue balls we created, the family we promised—became Mothers because we no longer had mothers of our own’
‘We walk along cinema aisles, and across seats, where members of our Houses are giving out hand-jobs and the like to cover the rent’
‘it should not only be lost pageant queens whose faces grace the back of milk cartons but girls who are trapped inside the bodies of boys’
‘We finally had use for the bodies we had spent so long starving and pumping. We learned the power of our physical strength’
‘They had no stomach for what we were, but still respected the art; from a city that seemingly had the protest ground out of it, up we sprang, naive, hopeful, silent’
‘competing in vogue balls; finding love. The pride felt around a swelling dinner table. This was all of our doing: vogue houses and their growing families; each looking out for the other’
‘We no longer use words because they are a defunct currency. What we say carries no value in this world; pennies rolled along the street that fall in the gutter’
‘To the naked eye, those squinting at us from the subway entrance, a distance of a block and a half, we represent something far more organised than we actually are’
‘A girl never told as a boy that he was good, had goodness in him, needs to hear it as she becomes her true self’
‘Our job is to soften; untangle all that knots her insides’
‘Neglect recognises neglect, and all the ugly shit that comes with it’
‘The vulnerability of the group of them sleeping out there tears me up. But, their choice. Their choice’
‘It was a lesson in consequences: by protecting the Mothers from truth, he was also shielding himself from a darker fear he was still unable to articulate’
‘We fight, Teddy boy, but there is always love here. The balls started because we needed to find love. Ways to love ourselves and be proud’
‘If she wanted to fuck with people she would do the grocery shopping in drags; teased hair and full makeup, in an outfit least suited to the time of day: ass on show and pushed-up tits at the deli counter’
‘her definition of walking was designed to make the crowd reconsider themselves and how their bodies moved’
‘Category is: voguing gave me life realness. Category is: voguing is my truth realness. Category is: house music all night long realness’
‘Category is: cocoa butter bitch realness. Category is: back to Africa realness. Category is: civil rights realness’
‘Category is: closet queen realness. Category is: only at weekends realness. Category is: your mamma doesn’t know realness’
‘Without these bitches, you’d be voguing in the kitchen when your family’s at church. Wearing lipstick in the bathroom. These Mothers unshackled you, so give it up. They create the space to be your queer selves. Keep it up. Turn it up’
‘their ramshackle wake; less to do with celebrating her, more getting their stories straight; rewriting the history that would be remembered later’
Police ‘Tells us nothing. Someone who was living with yous but yous don’t know their full name? [...] Or their gender. Have yous remembered anything more on that?’
‘I’m wondering why it would be that a man of his young age would be sharing an apartment with much older persons if it wasn’t about drugs. Yous not family, are yous?’
‘how everything he has achieved and will achieve will always be reduced; negated by strangers because of his skin tone and how he speaks’
‘conflict is essentially inertia interspersed with fighting’
‘you were no longer being indulged; that we could not be talked into competing in drag; that our femininity in some cases went beyond drag’
‘Fear that they’d be found out as exploiting minors. Are you really going to forget the nonsense they got themselves into? Their mania for taking our money? They were our bosses’
‘The home in that moment seems a juxtaposition of both the impenetrable and the vulnerable’
‘boredom seeping from behind the frosted door; his body, too, absorbing and then oozing frustration’
‘the combined heat of sweat, testosterone and shit; horny bastards scraping shit and animal carcass. Noses chapped to the pink from the cold’
‘The excesses of the stripe search took us back to darker times, when we were no longer in control of our bodies or bodily functions; a reminder that the state owned every inch of our flesh’
‘We could strip down to the barest of underwear at the balls, proud of how our bodies looked and moved’
‘We do not have the strength to create something so precious to watch it being torn apart’
‘Dressed in the same clothes they were arrested in: joggers, wigs and shawls; nothing made them look serious’
‘Don’t think that we fail to notice things ‘cos we’re running around in cut-off denims trying to be beautiful’
‘The custards, baked in coffee cups, are barely set, and sweet. Teddy boy, you would love it. The consistency is silky, the taste, eggy and rich [...] all the good stuff is like gold dust, here’
‘We see flesh and blood misunderstandings, wishing to challenge what is attributed to us’
‘We are old and lack vision in their eyes, needed now only for our banknotes and our image as patron saints of neglected causes’
‘We are undimmed’
July 22, 2019
Every now and then a book appears that teaches me of a culture I had been unaware existed, perhaps because it has never been referred to by the tribe I mix with – proof of the echo chambers in which we often inadvertently live. This Brutal House introduced me to Voguing – a ‘style of dance or performance that arose from Harlem ballroom cultures, as danced by African-American and Latino drag queens and gay men, from the early 1960s’ (source: Wikipedia). The story is based in New York City and features people who compete in Vogue Balls for money and kudos amongst peers.
Opening on the steps of City Hall, five elders and mothers are beginning a silent protest at the inaction of the authorities in locating their children who have gone missing.
“it should not only be pageant queens whose faces grace the back of milk cartons but girls who are trapped inside the bodies of boys; those who break out of their incarceration by wearing make-up, boys who like boys”
Within City Hall is an employee, Teddy, who lived with the mothers for a number of years. Through his access to official records he now knows more about what happened to some of his missing siblings. He has not shared these truths with the mothers, wishing to protect them as they once offered him a home.
The mothers are not blood mothers but rather men who take in children needing shelter and who they may then enter in the Vogue Balls. Additional funds are raised by offering sexual favours. Although groomed by the mothers, the children are willing participants. Those who do not wish to dress up in drag and dance can help out in cloakrooms or take on other supporting roles. The children live with the mothers having been rejected elsewhere.
“They were wanted at home; needed until they failed to live up to expectations of manhood. Most were loved, even if they were seldom heard.”
Teddy is assigned by his employer to keep an eye on the growing protest. He is long used to looking out for the mothers’ practical wellbeing.
“Teddy, with better penmanship and turn of phrase, who could reply to the electric company and the rent control board in the language they wanted rather than the guttural tongue by which we were raised.”
The reader is offered glimpses of what is happening and why the situation has been created and then escalates.
“We are unwanted noise, not to be seen or heard”
“The city deems us rodents”
The story unfolds from the points of view of the mothers, the children, various City employees and, most of all, Teddy. He is well aware of the corruption that exists in government and aims to use it to the mothers’ advantage. He observes potential threats and suggests to his colleagues that visible support could be publicly advantageous. He walks the political tightrope carefully.
“When did our police force augment into a military mindset, after funds allowed purchase of the first armour-plated SUV, or the second?”
The chapters told from Teddy’s point of view provide interesting background to life in his mothers’ apartment where, as a boy, he was smitten by one of the now missing children.
“He knows that if Sherry had stayed around she would have moved on of her own volition, her attention mercurial, his dissatisfaction, ancestral and chronic. He would always be unable to mend what needed to be mended.”
When the police respond to reports of the missing, they question the children’s provenance and nature of relationships – why boys have been taken in by older men.
Underscoring the narrative is the question of what is being offered and what taken. Choices are made but by those whose circumstances lead to limited options.
The mothers regard their actions as philanthropic, at least on the surface.
“By nature we are crowd-pleasers, craving the approval of our own, wishing the children to be schooled in our ways, independent, but cut from our cloth. How else can any of the old ways survive?”
Within the various houses that the Vogue mothers run there is a hankering after baubles and couture which are regarded as signifiers of beauty at the balls. The children are trained in how to walk provocatively, dance and strike a pose. They seek attention and validation. The mothers compete to train the child who will win for their house. They beat and berate. I pondered how such behaviour differed from coercion applied by blood families to bring perceived honour above individuals being themselves.
On the steps of City Hall, the protesters seek support and acceptance by a mainstream that struggles to see beyond men wearing wigs, dresses and make-up.
As points of view shift each character is presented as both an emotive and rounded person with issues and sensitivities and then as a derided facsimile whose vision remains blinkered. No easy answers are provided to offset what are often flawed decisions. Family – blood and adopted – are shown to be as culpable as individuals, and government.
Two of the chapters are set at the Vogue Balls. The structure of these is repetitive and tiring to read but succeeds in getting across the intensity of the occasions.
The writing elsewhere is stiletto sharp yet with almost poetic insight in places, although some of Teddy’s later streams of thought may have benefited from more succinctness.
A layered tale with a poignant turning point that demonstrates how misunderstood most people are, even by themselves.
“They speak as children sending their parents away, only to wait anxiously at the door once the thrill of the first few nights has worn off. Willing mischief, but knowing they’ll tire of it.”
Opening on the steps of City Hall, five elders and mothers are beginning a silent protest at the inaction of the authorities in locating their children who have gone missing.
“it should not only be pageant queens whose faces grace the back of milk cartons but girls who are trapped inside the bodies of boys; those who break out of their incarceration by wearing make-up, boys who like boys”
Within City Hall is an employee, Teddy, who lived with the mothers for a number of years. Through his access to official records he now knows more about what happened to some of his missing siblings. He has not shared these truths with the mothers, wishing to protect them as they once offered him a home.
The mothers are not blood mothers but rather men who take in children needing shelter and who they may then enter in the Vogue Balls. Additional funds are raised by offering sexual favours. Although groomed by the mothers, the children are willing participants. Those who do not wish to dress up in drag and dance can help out in cloakrooms or take on other supporting roles. The children live with the mothers having been rejected elsewhere.
“They were wanted at home; needed until they failed to live up to expectations of manhood. Most were loved, even if they were seldom heard.”
Teddy is assigned by his employer to keep an eye on the growing protest. He is long used to looking out for the mothers’ practical wellbeing.
“Teddy, with better penmanship and turn of phrase, who could reply to the electric company and the rent control board in the language they wanted rather than the guttural tongue by which we were raised.”
The reader is offered glimpses of what is happening and why the situation has been created and then escalates.
“We are unwanted noise, not to be seen or heard”
“The city deems us rodents”
The story unfolds from the points of view of the mothers, the children, various City employees and, most of all, Teddy. He is well aware of the corruption that exists in government and aims to use it to the mothers’ advantage. He observes potential threats and suggests to his colleagues that visible support could be publicly advantageous. He walks the political tightrope carefully.
“When did our police force augment into a military mindset, after funds allowed purchase of the first armour-plated SUV, or the second?”
The chapters told from Teddy’s point of view provide interesting background to life in his mothers’ apartment where, as a boy, he was smitten by one of the now missing children.
“He knows that if Sherry had stayed around she would have moved on of her own volition, her attention mercurial, his dissatisfaction, ancestral and chronic. He would always be unable to mend what needed to be mended.”
When the police respond to reports of the missing, they question the children’s provenance and nature of relationships – why boys have been taken in by older men.
Underscoring the narrative is the question of what is being offered and what taken. Choices are made but by those whose circumstances lead to limited options.
The mothers regard their actions as philanthropic, at least on the surface.
“By nature we are crowd-pleasers, craving the approval of our own, wishing the children to be schooled in our ways, independent, but cut from our cloth. How else can any of the old ways survive?”
Within the various houses that the Vogue mothers run there is a hankering after baubles and couture which are regarded as signifiers of beauty at the balls. The children are trained in how to walk provocatively, dance and strike a pose. They seek attention and validation. The mothers compete to train the child who will win for their house. They beat and berate. I pondered how such behaviour differed from coercion applied by blood families to bring perceived honour above individuals being themselves.
On the steps of City Hall, the protesters seek support and acceptance by a mainstream that struggles to see beyond men wearing wigs, dresses and make-up.
As points of view shift each character is presented as both an emotive and rounded person with issues and sensitivities and then as a derided facsimile whose vision remains blinkered. No easy answers are provided to offset what are often flawed decisions. Family – blood and adopted – are shown to be as culpable as individuals, and government.
Two of the chapters are set at the Vogue Balls. The structure of these is repetitive and tiring to read but succeeds in getting across the intensity of the occasions.
The writing elsewhere is stiletto sharp yet with almost poetic insight in places, although some of Teddy’s later streams of thought may have benefited from more succinctness.
A layered tale with a poignant turning point that demonstrates how misunderstood most people are, even by themselves.
“They speak as children sending their parents away, only to wait anxiously at the door once the thrill of the first few nights has worn off. Willing mischief, but knowing they’ll tire of it.”
November 24, 2019
I can see why the experimental form of the book could put many readers off, particularly if they are not familiar with the milieu it describes: the New York ball scene of the 1980s.
This isn't help by the decision made by Govinden to not make it easy to a novice reader, by providing all the answers and all the information.
I found it a fairly easy read and not unpleasant at all but I was thankful for having watched the first two series of Pose. It helped enormously with my enjoyment of the book, bringing in colour and fleshing things out. I wonder how someone coming cold to the subject and themes it tackles would fair.
This isn't help by the decision made by Govinden to not make it easy to a novice reader, by providing all the answers and all the information.
I found it a fairly easy read and not unpleasant at all but I was thankful for having watched the first two series of Pose. It helped enormously with my enjoyment of the book, bringing in colour and fleshing things out. I wonder how someone coming cold to the subject and themes it tackles would fair.
December 1, 2020
I struggled tremendously with this book.
The style of prose was frustratingly poetic and ethereal and I personally struggled to follow it at times.
Reading the book felt more like a grueling task rather than an enjoyable experience.
The style of prose was frustratingly poetic and ethereal and I personally struggled to follow it at times.
Reading the book felt more like a grueling task rather than an enjoyable experience.
January 2, 2020
My thanks to Little Brown Book Group U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘This Brutal House’ by Niven Govinden in exchange for an honest review. It was published in June 2019. My apologies for the late feedback.
“On the steps of New York’s City Hall, five ageing Mothers sit in silent protest. They are the guardians of the vogue ball community - queer men who opened their hearts and homes to countless lost Children, providing safe spaces for them to explore their true selves.”
A number of the Children have gone missing but the authorities are ignoring this situation and the police are not investigating. The Mothers are desperate to change this. They are assisted by Terry, who was raised by the Mothers and is now a City clerk. Yet he gets caught between both camps when his employers ask him to broker a peace.
I only became aware of the vogue ball community after watching Ryan Murphy’s ’Pose’ and hearing related discussions on various television shows.
Even though I felt that this was an important subject, I didn’t find this a particularly easy novel to read in terms of its narrative style.
Aside from Terry and a few of the Lost Children there were no named main characters. The Mothers were just identified by that collective title rather than as individuals and their experiences are related using the first person plural.
Even though this was clearly Govinden’s intention, it made it hard for me to feel a connection with them. I wanted to know their stories rather than just see them as fulfilling the Mother archetype. Maybe ‘Pose’ has spoiled me in that respect.
There also were the two Vogue Caller chapters. The first called to mind the ‘Pose’ character, Pray-Tell, who announces: ‘The Category is:...’ at each ball. The many, many categories listed were intriguing but I felt swamped! Then the second chapter was page after page of the word ‘Walk’. Certainly both chapters caught my attention and interjected some fun into this tragic tale but I found them a little disjointed.
Overall, I feel that Govinden engaged with these themes with sensitivity and his writing was beautiful but that his experimental style proved challenging for me.
Reading interviews with him it’s clear that while ‘This Brutal House’ is fiction it draws on Govinden’s own experiences with New York’s drag scene. He explains: “It’s very much a product of lived experience and going out and consuming culture,”. Certainly it feel authentic and has the ‘realness’ sought by those taking part in the balls.
I was grateful to have the opportunity to read and review it. It is a novel that is hard to rate because it won’t be to everyone’s taste and my own response was mixed.
It was difficult to rate but settled after much deliberation on 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
“On the steps of New York’s City Hall, five ageing Mothers sit in silent protest. They are the guardians of the vogue ball community - queer men who opened their hearts and homes to countless lost Children, providing safe spaces for them to explore their true selves.”
A number of the Children have gone missing but the authorities are ignoring this situation and the police are not investigating. The Mothers are desperate to change this. They are assisted by Terry, who was raised by the Mothers and is now a City clerk. Yet he gets caught between both camps when his employers ask him to broker a peace.
I only became aware of the vogue ball community after watching Ryan Murphy’s ’Pose’ and hearing related discussions on various television shows.
Even though I felt that this was an important subject, I didn’t find this a particularly easy novel to read in terms of its narrative style.
Aside from Terry and a few of the Lost Children there were no named main characters. The Mothers were just identified by that collective title rather than as individuals and their experiences are related using the first person plural.
Even though this was clearly Govinden’s intention, it made it hard for me to feel a connection with them. I wanted to know their stories rather than just see them as fulfilling the Mother archetype. Maybe ‘Pose’ has spoiled me in that respect.
There also were the two Vogue Caller chapters. The first called to mind the ‘Pose’ character, Pray-Tell, who announces: ‘The Category is:...’ at each ball. The many, many categories listed were intriguing but I felt swamped! Then the second chapter was page after page of the word ‘Walk’. Certainly both chapters caught my attention and interjected some fun into this tragic tale but I found them a little disjointed.
Overall, I feel that Govinden engaged with these themes with sensitivity and his writing was beautiful but that his experimental style proved challenging for me.
Reading interviews with him it’s clear that while ‘This Brutal House’ is fiction it draws on Govinden’s own experiences with New York’s drag scene. He explains: “It’s very much a product of lived experience and going out and consuming culture,”. Certainly it feel authentic and has the ‘realness’ sought by those taking part in the balls.
I was grateful to have the opportunity to read and review it. It is a novel that is hard to rate because it won’t be to everyone’s taste and my own response was mixed.
It was difficult to rate but settled after much deliberation on 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
June 18, 2020
Reading This Brutal House in June 2020 was incredibly timely. Govinden engrosses us in the world of Vogue balls and the African American and Latin American queer community which made them what they are. The narrative focuses on the House Mothers and their desire for justice as the young people they refer to as the Children begin to disappear; central to this fight is Teddy, a City Hall employee and one of their own.
The Mothers begin a silent protest on the steps of City Hall; their dedication to the cause of finding the missing Children never wavering. However, their staunch belief is challenged as Govinden’s narrative focus shifts to Teddy. As an employee of the establishment the Mothers protest outside of, Teddy is looked to as a peacemaker by both sides. Teddy struggles to reconcile what he already knows with everything he owes to the Mothers and with his dedication to changing systems from the inside. It is from here that everything unravels for Teddy and the Mothers.
This Brutal House read as a commentary on prejudiced institutions; how the systems which govern lead to African American and Latin Americans finding little safety in the streets, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community and those who are sex workers. Consequently, the narrative moves beyond the disappearance of individuals and highlights the ongoing suffering, discrimination and bigotry faced by marginalised communities and ethnicities in America; although, I would argue Govinden’s message applies to societies and systems outside of America too.
Govinden’s writing harnesses a rawness which is often poetic. I saw the brilliancy of the chapters from the Mothers’ perspective being written using collective pronouns; how this afforded them anonymity as individuals but empowered them as a group. Teddy’s flashbacks and inner monologues were also insightfully explored. This meant that even if we disagree with Teddy’s secrets and actions, we understand the places they come from. The use of dialogue was a clever vehicle for portraying the prejudiced world putting up its walls around the protest, too.
Some parts were unnecessary, however. The two ‘Vogue-caller’ chapters, although meant to immerse us in the world of the Vogue ball, added little to the narrative and criticism of institutions and society at large. That said, two chapters feeling superfluous did not take away the sadness felt by the end as the Mothers are seen as icons but feel little triumph themselves.
This Brutal House reveals the fights which must be fought are fought on many and varying levels. This Brutal House reminds us these fights are hard fought for years, not just months. Govinden’s words remind us of the work still to be done.
The Mothers begin a silent protest on the steps of City Hall; their dedication to the cause of finding the missing Children never wavering. However, their staunch belief is challenged as Govinden’s narrative focus shifts to Teddy. As an employee of the establishment the Mothers protest outside of, Teddy is looked to as a peacemaker by both sides. Teddy struggles to reconcile what he already knows with everything he owes to the Mothers and with his dedication to changing systems from the inside. It is from here that everything unravels for Teddy and the Mothers.
This Brutal House read as a commentary on prejudiced institutions; how the systems which govern lead to African American and Latin Americans finding little safety in the streets, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community and those who are sex workers. Consequently, the narrative moves beyond the disappearance of individuals and highlights the ongoing suffering, discrimination and bigotry faced by marginalised communities and ethnicities in America; although, I would argue Govinden’s message applies to societies and systems outside of America too.
Govinden’s writing harnesses a rawness which is often poetic. I saw the brilliancy of the chapters from the Mothers’ perspective being written using collective pronouns; how this afforded them anonymity as individuals but empowered them as a group. Teddy’s flashbacks and inner monologues were also insightfully explored. This meant that even if we disagree with Teddy’s secrets and actions, we understand the places they come from. The use of dialogue was a clever vehicle for portraying the prejudiced world putting up its walls around the protest, too.
Some parts were unnecessary, however. The two ‘Vogue-caller’ chapters, although meant to immerse us in the world of the Vogue ball, added little to the narrative and criticism of institutions and society at large. That said, two chapters feeling superfluous did not take away the sadness felt by the end as the Mothers are seen as icons but feel little triumph themselves.
This Brutal House reveals the fights which must be fought are fought on many and varying levels. This Brutal House reminds us these fights are hard fought for years, not just months. Govinden’s words remind us of the work still to be done.
August 8, 2022
"We became mothers because we no longer had mothers of our own."
This is a fictional account set in New York City in the 1990s that focuses on five middle-aged House Mothers who are undertaking a silent protest on the steps of City Hall in memory of the children missing from their houses.
The story is told from three POV - One of the mothers; One of their former children, Teddy, who now works for the City; and a Caller at a Vogue ball.
I'll start by saying that this isn't the book I thought it was. For some reason I thought it was non-fiction - but there's an authenticity to it that makes it feel very genuine and real.
The Caller's chapters are essentially just category after category or one word repeated over and over again but there's a sort of poetic charm to it, it's very evocative.
I think I enjoyed Teddy's chapters the most (the Chanel story broke my heart) - he speaks so well about going from a child role to a parental role, trying to look out for the mothers and use his influence in his job to try and protect them during their protest.
The protest itself was incredibly sad. It was a silent representation of the complete lack of interest shown to missing people just because of their gender, race, and/or sexuality. These children were going missing regularly and nobody gave a damn.
I found the book overall to be melancholy, reflective, and an important read about chosen family, safe spaces, and what happens when the child becomes the parent. It was also a reminder of how Black trans women are still an incredibly at-risk group when it comes to safety.
In 2019, the American Medical Association identified an "epidemic" of violence against Black trans women in the US. The rate of death has only climbed since. In 2021, between June 25th and July 3rd, six Black trans women were found dead in a brutal nine-day stretch. Brayla Stone, Merci Mack, Shakiie Peters, Draya McCarty, Tatiana Hall, and Bree Black. Countless others have been posthumously misgendered.
With thanks to @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for the arc via @Netgalley
This is a fictional account set in New York City in the 1990s that focuses on five middle-aged House Mothers who are undertaking a silent protest on the steps of City Hall in memory of the children missing from their houses.
The story is told from three POV - One of the mothers; One of their former children, Teddy, who now works for the City; and a Caller at a Vogue ball.
I'll start by saying that this isn't the book I thought it was. For some reason I thought it was non-fiction - but there's an authenticity to it that makes it feel very genuine and real.
The Caller's chapters are essentially just category after category or one word repeated over and over again but there's a sort of poetic charm to it, it's very evocative.
I think I enjoyed Teddy's chapters the most (the Chanel story broke my heart) - he speaks so well about going from a child role to a parental role, trying to look out for the mothers and use his influence in his job to try and protect them during their protest.
The protest itself was incredibly sad. It was a silent representation of the complete lack of interest shown to missing people just because of their gender, race, and/or sexuality. These children were going missing regularly and nobody gave a damn.
I found the book overall to be melancholy, reflective, and an important read about chosen family, safe spaces, and what happens when the child becomes the parent. It was also a reminder of how Black trans women are still an incredibly at-risk group when it comes to safety.
In 2019, the American Medical Association identified an "epidemic" of violence against Black trans women in the US. The rate of death has only climbed since. In 2021, between June 25th and July 3rd, six Black trans women were found dead in a brutal nine-day stretch. Brayla Stone, Merci Mack, Shakiie Peters, Draya McCarty, Tatiana Hall, and Bree Black. Countless others have been posthumously misgendered.
With thanks to @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for the arc via @Netgalley
February 27, 2021
I was really disappointed with this offering from Niven Govinden.
From the outset it feels as though you're joining the book mid-dialogue; the Mothers are giving their story as to why they're in the midst of a silent protest outside of City Hall. The dialogue however feels disjointed, stilted and rambling. There is no ease or fluidity to the words here.
Then we have Teddy's point of view which is slightly more informative but continues to detract from, instead of enrich the story.
Jump to chapters by the vogue callers, and by now I'm getting horrific flashbacks of the absolute train wreck that is Ducks, Newburyport, with its never-ending listing of words.
One Vogue Callers chapter is thus: Walk, walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk literally for pages and pages!!! Another chapter tries pages and pages and pages of this: Category is: heels, category is: bling, category is: blah blah blah, category is: lazy pseudo writing, category is: pretentious overblown bullshit!! Ok, I have made up categories but you catch my drift!! The writing feels lazy, languorous and self-indulgent.
The subject matter here interests me immensely. The Vogue Ball phenomena is amazing; werking, strutting, throwing down, and the lives of the drag queens and divas involved should be so, so fascinating, yet Govinden manages to make the story of them figmental and insubstantial. I think he has done the subject matter a great disservice, which is ultimately disappointing.
From the outset it feels as though you're joining the book mid-dialogue; the Mothers are giving their story as to why they're in the midst of a silent protest outside of City Hall. The dialogue however feels disjointed, stilted and rambling. There is no ease or fluidity to the words here.
Then we have Teddy's point of view which is slightly more informative but continues to detract from, instead of enrich the story.
Jump to chapters by the vogue callers, and by now I'm getting horrific flashbacks of the absolute train wreck that is Ducks, Newburyport, with its never-ending listing of words.
One Vogue Callers chapter is thus: Walk, walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk literally for pages and pages!!! Another chapter tries pages and pages and pages of this: Category is: heels, category is: bling, category is: blah blah blah, category is: lazy pseudo writing, category is: pretentious overblown bullshit!! Ok, I have made up categories but you catch my drift!! The writing feels lazy, languorous and self-indulgent.
The subject matter here interests me immensely. The Vogue Ball phenomena is amazing; werking, strutting, throwing down, and the lives of the drag queens and divas involved should be so, so fascinating, yet Govinden manages to make the story of them figmental and insubstantial. I think he has done the subject matter a great disservice, which is ultimately disappointing.
July 12, 2019
This Brutal House by Niven Govinden is set in New York in 1980s/1990s, with a look at the balls drag queens would hold, think RuPaul's Drag Race for the commentary as they each walk the floor, showing off their looks.
We also see a silent protest held outside City Hall, where drag mothers are sitting, waiting for someone to care enough to look into the disappearances of their drag children that has been going on for years.
I did find this an unusual read. The story flows around the protest, and telling us about how life was, and I don't think there was ever a conclusion, which is probably a telling fact that some things are still the same.
This book did make me think about the challenges of people being 'other', whether that is intelligent, gay, drag queen, or unhappy with their lives. It was immersive, and I felt like there should be a play list to go with each chapter.
This Brutal House was published on 6th June 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!
I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown Book Group (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!
We also see a silent protest held outside City Hall, where drag mothers are sitting, waiting for someone to care enough to look into the disappearances of their drag children that has been going on for years.
I did find this an unusual read. The story flows around the protest, and telling us about how life was, and I don't think there was ever a conclusion, which is probably a telling fact that some things are still the same.
This book did make me think about the challenges of people being 'other', whether that is intelligent, gay, drag queen, or unhappy with their lives. It was immersive, and I felt like there should be a play list to go with each chapter.
This Brutal House was published on 6th June 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!
I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Little, Brown Book Group (the publishers) for this book.
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