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The Diary of Andy Angus: The Lost Year
Andy Angus has been living a quiet life in the country as a Domestic God to his partner Thomas for the past decade. They’re happy, settled, insular and pretty much friendless. 2010 is fast approaching, and Andy plans to propose to Thomas on their anniversary in front of his family. But his plans are scuppered when his aunt collapses and becomes seriously ill in the same week he discovers Thomas dogging.
With no real friend to turn to, Andy finds himself single, lost and half the man he once was. During an uncomfortable time back in his teenage bed, he receives an invite to a long-lost friend’s wedding. Andy believes moving back to Edinburgh to be with his old pal (the groom-to-be) Ryan is the perfect reboot to erase the wasted years and start over. But life has changed since he left for love in the country: the age of consent for homosexual men has dropped, sex apps are free and easy, social media is on the rise, and Andy is now thirty-five years old, but no wiser. Even gentle Ryan has become acerbic and is marrying a man Andy detests.
Using his diary to document and reflect on his journey, Andy records a year of sexual experimentation and misadventure, unexpected friendships, loneliness and longing, and the depths he hits to have someone, nay anyone, to fill that void next to him in bed … even for just a few hours of the night.
With no real friend to turn to, Andy finds himself single, lost and half the man he once was. During an uncomfortable time back in his teenage bed, he receives an invite to a long-lost friend’s wedding. Andy believes moving back to Edinburgh to be with his old pal (the groom-to-be) Ryan is the perfect reboot to erase the wasted years and start over. But life has changed since he left for love in the country: the age of consent for homosexual men has dropped, sex apps are free and easy, social media is on the rise, and Andy is now thirty-five years old, but no wiser. Even gentle Ryan has become acerbic and is marrying a man Andy detests.
Using his diary to document and reflect on his journey, Andy records a year of sexual experimentation and misadventure, unexpected friendships, loneliness and longing, and the depths he hits to have someone, nay anyone, to fill that void next to him in bed … even for just a few hours of the night.
806 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 8, 2019
23 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Joe Brewer-Lennon
1 book14 followersJoe Brewer-Lennon grew up on a Scottish council scheme that no longer exists. When he wasn’t playing Kick the Can with friends, he would spend rainy days creating adventures with his limited supply of Doctor Who figures and his sister’s Sindy dolls; the humble beginnings of his fictional creativity. In the mid-nineties, he somehow qualified as a nurse and has spent most of his adult life under a tedious mountain of paperwork convincing people to have unpleasant things done to them for their own good. After studying Sexual Health at Stirling University, he decided to turn some of this insight into the work of fiction you are about to read. He currently lives in Edinburgh with his husband and one cat: one of which is smugly tortoiseshell.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 13, 2019
Humorous and touching
A thoroughly enjoyable read. I couldn’t put it down. I felt a the whole spectrum of emotions whilst reading it. As someone who grew up in Petersburn, it was strange to read about my childhood haunts- the glen, our concrete playgrounds and the flat roofed, Beruit style houses. I didn’t want it to end but the ending was perfect. I hope to read more adventures of Andy Angus from the intervening years.
A thoroughly enjoyable read. I couldn’t put it down. I felt a the whole spectrum of emotions whilst reading it. As someone who grew up in Petersburn, it was strange to read about my childhood haunts- the glen, our concrete playgrounds and the flat roofed, Beruit style houses. I didn’t want it to end but the ending was perfect. I hope to read more adventures of Andy Angus from the intervening years.
August 13, 2020
Incredible book!!!!!!
Oh my goodness, this is the best book I've read in such a long time. Genuinely excited to review this book. If I didn't have agoraphobia and fat legs, I would run out around the streets waving my arms around and a big placard advertising this brilliant diary. If Netflix don't get their hands on this and make a series then they have seriously missed out on a golden opposite and in 40 years of reading, I have never said that about a book.
There was everything in this diary that should be right about society - acceptance of what people want to be. So if you are a ridiculous homophobe with a closed judgemental mind, then this book is far too intellectual for you.
Let's all cheer and support the long suffering LGBTQ community, I shall happily do so.
I hope the author has a sequel planned or I shall forever sulk until my dying day.
This is a modern day Adrian Mole and those books were absolutely amazing too.
To the author.......Sue Townsend would have loved you I think.
This book was funny, exciting, heart warming, and intriguing. I feel fully invested with all the amazing characters. Even Nick!!!!
Bravo Joe, a real page turner. A triumph indeed
Oh my goodness, this is the best book I've read in such a long time. Genuinely excited to review this book. If I didn't have agoraphobia and fat legs, I would run out around the streets waving my arms around and a big placard advertising this brilliant diary. If Netflix don't get their hands on this and make a series then they have seriously missed out on a golden opposite and in 40 years of reading, I have never said that about a book.
There was everything in this diary that should be right about society - acceptance of what people want to be. So if you are a ridiculous homophobe with a closed judgemental mind, then this book is far too intellectual for you.
Let's all cheer and support the long suffering LGBTQ community, I shall happily do so.
I hope the author has a sequel planned or I shall forever sulk until my dying day.
This is a modern day Adrian Mole and those books were absolutely amazing too.
To the author.......Sue Townsend would have loved you I think.
This book was funny, exciting, heart warming, and intriguing. I feel fully invested with all the amazing characters. Even Nick!!!!
Bravo Joe, a real page turner. A triumph indeed
January 3, 2025
This was my second reading (I don’t know how this has therefore no review against it?) but I need you to know, with no exaggeration that this book is perfect. Joe writes the most rounded, wonderful characters. I am SO invested in their lives. You wanna punch some and cuddle others and all of them exist in the grey - none are black and white. I peed laughing at parts of this and was caught off guard by some raw emotion too.
Because this book is a diary, for 2024 I read Andy Angus in real time, every day he wrote, I read. It was so lovely to know at the end of each day there would be this little bit of joy regardless of the day had. It concludes on 01st of January but I did cheat and read that on 31st so I could have it as the book to complete my 2024 reading.
I am never quick to universally recommend a book because everyone is unique but I honestly believe that there is no person whose life wouldn’t be greatly improved by the presence of Andy Angus.
If you read it this year like I did last… then you *should* be able to follow on with the sequel which is coming soon 👀
Andy Angus - I love you ❤️
Because this book is a diary, for 2024 I read Andy Angus in real time, every day he wrote, I read. It was so lovely to know at the end of each day there would be this little bit of joy regardless of the day had. It concludes on 01st of January but I did cheat and read that on 31st so I could have it as the book to complete my 2024 reading.
I am never quick to universally recommend a book because everyone is unique but I honestly believe that there is no person whose life wouldn’t be greatly improved by the presence of Andy Angus.
If you read it this year like I did last… then you *should* be able to follow on with the sequel which is coming soon 👀
Andy Angus - I love you ❤️
December 3, 2019
This is a humdinger of a book. It is partially autobiographical. I say that because Andy Angus, like the author, grew up gay in Airdrie. [There are shades of Damian Barr’s “Maggie and Me” here]. I am being cautious about this because I have not the slightest idea if the author experienced/enjoyed/endured the sexual shenanigans that Andy Angus goes through in the book. Nor do I have any desire to know.
The book begins with Andy living somewhere in the borders with his partner, Thomas, preparing a Christmas meal for his visiting family. Christmas is a disaster. Not only does his Aunt Moira die, having gifted him the diary which becomes this book, but he discovers that Thomas has been having an affair. Andy leaves home and sets off on a journey with his beloved cat, the Colonel, and ends up in Edinburgh. Here he meets his old friend, Ryan, who is planning a spectacular civil partnership with his partner Tony who are the Posh and Becks of the Edinburgh gay scene. Andy, inevitably, gets drawn into this fiasco.
It is Andy’s Edinburgh relationships – friends, one-night stands, potential partners – that are the crux of this book. Andy is a gay man in search of the contentment and peace that is a loving relationship. That is what the book is about. It is also about the friends that he makes with damaged people – Gwen, Alistair, Carmen, Melve and his own parents, and, most spectacular of them all, Miss Sally Knowles. [The reference to Christopher Isherwood’s “Goodbye to All That” and “Cabaret” is deliberate]. That is all that you need to know about the plot.
The book is written with a sardonic humour that will make you laugh out loud. Do not read it in the quiet carriage of a train. You will get filthy looks from the “quiet coach police”. There are some breath-taking lines like “You look like you have been raped by a sperm whale”. Given the explicit and racy nature of some of the descriptions, that is a very appropriate description of the style of the book. It is only fair to warn you that, if you are offended by bodily functions, you will not like this book. There are quite a lot of them.
What can be said about this story? It is a book about people trying to be good. They do not always succeed because they are human, and this is a very human story. People fail, they face difficulties and disasters, but they pick themselves up and carry on. They are preparing themselves to fail better at the next attempt. It is a story about hope and survival and quiet determination, told with a certain sympathetic humour. I think you will recognise the deep humanity that is the basis of this story. I think you will like this book.
The book begins with Andy living somewhere in the borders with his partner, Thomas, preparing a Christmas meal for his visiting family. Christmas is a disaster. Not only does his Aunt Moira die, having gifted him the diary which becomes this book, but he discovers that Thomas has been having an affair. Andy leaves home and sets off on a journey with his beloved cat, the Colonel, and ends up in Edinburgh. Here he meets his old friend, Ryan, who is planning a spectacular civil partnership with his partner Tony who are the Posh and Becks of the Edinburgh gay scene. Andy, inevitably, gets drawn into this fiasco.
It is Andy’s Edinburgh relationships – friends, one-night stands, potential partners – that are the crux of this book. Andy is a gay man in search of the contentment and peace that is a loving relationship. That is what the book is about. It is also about the friends that he makes with damaged people – Gwen, Alistair, Carmen, Melve and his own parents, and, most spectacular of them all, Miss Sally Knowles. [The reference to Christopher Isherwood’s “Goodbye to All That” and “Cabaret” is deliberate]. That is all that you need to know about the plot.
The book is written with a sardonic humour that will make you laugh out loud. Do not read it in the quiet carriage of a train. You will get filthy looks from the “quiet coach police”. There are some breath-taking lines like “You look like you have been raped by a sperm whale”. Given the explicit and racy nature of some of the descriptions, that is a very appropriate description of the style of the book. It is only fair to warn you that, if you are offended by bodily functions, you will not like this book. There are quite a lot of them.
What can be said about this story? It is a book about people trying to be good. They do not always succeed because they are human, and this is a very human story. People fail, they face difficulties and disasters, but they pick themselves up and carry on. They are preparing themselves to fail better at the next attempt. It is a story about hope and survival and quiet determination, told with a certain sympathetic humour. I think you will recognise the deep humanity that is the basis of this story. I think you will like this book.
December 14, 2020
I usually ignore Facebook ads but the description of the story in this book caught my attention, so I decided to order it. I'm glad I did. The novel is a great Scottish story of loss, love and coming of age, encompassing the tensions of friendship as well as the perils and joys of online dating, all played out between the Borders and Edinburgh. The writing reminded me strongly of Monica Ali's 'Brick Lane,' and it got better as the story progressed. The author's experience as a GUM nurse provides some hilarious anecdotes throughout. Indeed, sexuality is frankly, honestly but always sympathetically treated. The story paints a colourful picture of hedonistic thirtysomething life in Edinburgh with a focus on the Fringe Festival and a big fat gay wedding towards the end. Having lived there some years ago, I was instantly brought back. It may seem unusual for someone to come of age at 35, but the novel brilliantly evokes this milestone in Andy Angus' life, truly a memorable and well-drawn character. This is a forthrightly honest gay bildungsroman. I am very much looking forward to reading the next instalment of Andy Angus' amazing journey. Highly recommended.
December 3, 2020
Next year HAS to be better...
I’d barely got started, when I came across the line ‘Can you smell her Charley?’ and I realised I’d hit comedy gold. There’s a surprising amount of ‘deep’ stuff for a lighthearted comedy, sometimes it’s easy to imagine this isn’t merely fun fiction, but more of an autobiography. The end in particular made me slightly teary, a bit unexpected. A couple of characters were insanely real and horribly easy to absolutely hate and detest, and the whole P.C. 7469 saga was very frustrating, I really wanted that to go better! What a year Andy has to survive. Brilliant story, well written, with believable dialogue, something a lot of authors don’t quite get right.
I’d barely got started, when I came across the line ‘Can you smell her Charley?’ and I realised I’d hit comedy gold. There’s a surprising amount of ‘deep’ stuff for a lighthearted comedy, sometimes it’s easy to imagine this isn’t merely fun fiction, but more of an autobiography. The end in particular made me slightly teary, a bit unexpected. A couple of characters were insanely real and horribly easy to absolutely hate and detest, and the whole P.C. 7469 saga was very frustrating, I really wanted that to go better! What a year Andy has to survive. Brilliant story, well written, with believable dialogue, something a lot of authors don’t quite get right.
Read
August 17, 2024Why has it taken so long for me to discover this book and Joe Brewer-Lennon? It is simply a wonderful read and it made me smile, laugh out loud and cry! Andy's life is certainly full of incident. After a devastating start to the year his life is gradually transformed. When he finds himself in a bed-sit he meets an extraordinary of people who become his 'family'. His love life has many ups and downs until he meets the man whom he truly loves - but is this love reciprocated? You must read the book to discover the answer to that! I loved this book and greatly recommend it - and I'm sure that like me you will long for a sequel!
June 10, 2023
Despite having a full time job and mother to care for I read this beautiful book in no time. I cried with laughter and also felt sad especially towards the end without giving too much away.
I was hooked on this book from the minute go! I loved this book so much. Excellent characters who were very relatable. Very funny and moving at times.
The ending was brilliant with a great twist ! Best book by far this year for me.
Hope the author writes another book of Andy’s or one of his quirky friends especially Sally Knowles
I was hooked on this book from the minute go! I loved this book so much. Excellent characters who were very relatable. Very funny and moving at times.
The ending was brilliant with a great twist ! Best book by far this year for me.
Hope the author writes another book of Andy’s or one of his quirky friends especially Sally Knowles
January 6, 2023
a realistic look at being a newly single 35 year old gay man
I’ve never read a book quite like this one and I’m hoping the author considers writing another book about Andy and his quirky friends.
This book isn’t for the faint of heart it’s a mix of depression, joy and heartbreak as Andy traverses life as a newly single 35 year old gay man in Scotland in 2010.
Thoroughly enjoyed this story. Recommended.
I’ve never read a book quite like this one and I’m hoping the author considers writing another book about Andy and his quirky friends.
This book isn’t for the faint of heart it’s a mix of depression, joy and heartbreak as Andy traverses life as a newly single 35 year old gay man in Scotland in 2010.
Thoroughly enjoyed this story. Recommended.
March 31, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. There are a whole range of emotions and some laugh out loud moments. There were elements of it that resonated with me as they were not so different from own shenanigans in my earlier life. I could not put it down as it was so entertaining. I am looking forward to the sequel.
January 4, 2021
This is the best book I have read in ages - hilariously funny, moving, gripping - a real page turner which I could not put down. I laughed out loud multiple times as well as shed the odd tear. A heart warming story and loads of great characters - what more do you want in a book! Do read. I hope there will be more of Andy's antics to come!
September 8, 2020
What a fantastic book. Andy Angus has quite a year! Lots of ups... lots of downs.. but always entertaining. Loved Andy and his band of friends. I couldn’t put it down. I’m hoping more stories of Andy are are on their way. Well done Joe.
Pete
Pete
July 23, 2021
A really good read - at times funny, at times moving, at times emotional. Deals with some very serious topics in a light way. I still have questions unanswered though! I hope I find the answers in the next instalment.
September 12, 2022
The debut book from new author Joe Brewer Lennon tells the story of Andy a gay 30 something. The book gives the reader an insight into the sometimes chaotic life of Andy over the course of a year. It’s a laugh out loud in places and shows that friends are there for you no matter what.
May 10, 2021
Love! Unexpectedly hilarious book! And... an great ending! Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks Joe for making us smile, laugh, and cry a little.
October 20, 2021
Entertaining
I really enjoyed Andy Angus and can't wait for book two. The story is a pleasure to read with some interesting characters and twists. I was gutted I finished it.
I really enjoyed Andy Angus and can't wait for book two. The story is a pleasure to read with some interesting characters and twists. I was gutted I finished it.
April 16, 2022
Loved it funny and thoughtful, deals with sensitive issues in a genital caring way. I’d recommend it…
May 28, 2022
A fantastic read so funny I laughed out loud and yet at times so moving I cried.
September 9, 2022
Great book, very easy to read.
I really loved and miss Andy Anus 😂😂. Made me laugh out loud.
Looking forward to the next book.
I really loved and miss Andy Anus 😂😂. Made me laugh out loud.
Looking forward to the next book.
February 12, 2025
Had me laughing out loud which I’m sure my better half found very irritating. (Sorry Jeff) a work of fiction that felt very real and raw. Great read.
February 19, 2021
Summary- This is Bridget Jones's Diary if it had been written by Russell T Davies. It sags in the middle, but after the Coronation Street or QAF commercial break it rallies for the finale.
The longer version - Civil partnerships and the new dawn of greater legal and social equality for gay couples collides with the reality that regardless of sexuality, all relationships are difficult. After 10 years of stability that have unseen started to fade into sterility, Andy Angus embarks on a new year in 2010 where all his old certainties are taken away. This is not a brave new world, but an unplanned and often confusing stumble into the world of dogging, bedsits, renewed teenage-style family rows, and chasing after old friendships. Ten years on, this disruption of comfy norms feels very current regardless of relationship status.
The first few pages of Christmas marriage proposals (which was how I spent last Christmas), and New Year resolutions had me hooked. Andy Angus is 35 in this book is similarly relatable, and as the story progressed, it took me back to being the same age - not always in a comfortable way! I say this only because the action and scenarios seemed based on real life. Get past the crust of ridiculous names (Gordon Bennett... no really, that's one of them...), and what lies beneath is a fruity melange of plausible events.
Less palatable is the diary format, which forces 365 episodes when arguably 200 or 250 was enough. There are frankly boring sex scenes, and Alistair and Angus knock around for a lot of the summer. I'd quite liked them to have gone to Mykonos for all of June to September, and for Andy to have mislaid is diary at home. Instead it drags. By c. page 300 I was ready to give this a 3* or even 2*.
Part of the issue in the middle was also that for me the humour too often missed the mark. Lots of other reviewers have obviously found it comedy-central. But then I don't find RT Davies usually very funny, and have found myself laughing much more at Dickens. I like absurdity or character-based humour, but if gross-out laughs and fanny jokes are your thing, then turn off Mrs Brown's Boys and get stuck in.
It's a minor point, but some of the vocab seemed plain stilted. The diary format perhaps explains part of this. If I've ever tried keeping a diary, the results have been every-bit as wince-worthy. Nevertheless, the language used felt plain wrong coming out of the mouths of some characters ('confectionary' was a word Sally would never have said, surely - and there were lots of similar instances I didn't jot down). Dickens is also full of coincidences, so even the greats do it, but the dentist scene and ultimately Sally's revelations tool my credulity beyond snapping point.
Call me a grumpy sod, then, but when the action again got my serious from the autumn, I surprised myself by really getting back into it. STDs stop being played for laughs, and sexual health, self-care and the dependability of our closest friends and family all bring some ballast to bring the party balloon back to earth.
The book is casting to Bridget Jones, and to me misses that lofty mark. However, it's packed full of observations on family relationships and sexual instinct that will be all-too familiar to at least some who read this book.
It gets 3* from me, then, not least because with joie de vivre, it tackles big subjects, and presents its protagonists in all-too-human way. That fruity goodness lying underneath the surface may be as gross-out as Apple Pie at times, but this is the equivalent the LGBT community has possibly been waiting for. It took me far too close to home as well as to somewhere new, and there can be few better recommendations than that.
The longer version - Civil partnerships and the new dawn of greater legal and social equality for gay couples collides with the reality that regardless of sexuality, all relationships are difficult. After 10 years of stability that have unseen started to fade into sterility, Andy Angus embarks on a new year in 2010 where all his old certainties are taken away. This is not a brave new world, but an unplanned and often confusing stumble into the world of dogging, bedsits, renewed teenage-style family rows, and chasing after old friendships. Ten years on, this disruption of comfy norms feels very current regardless of relationship status.
The first few pages of Christmas marriage proposals (which was how I spent last Christmas), and New Year resolutions had me hooked. Andy Angus is 35 in this book is similarly relatable, and as the story progressed, it took me back to being the same age - not always in a comfortable way! I say this only because the action and scenarios seemed based on real life. Get past the crust of ridiculous names (Gordon Bennett... no really, that's one of them...), and what lies beneath is a fruity melange of plausible events.
Less palatable is the diary format, which forces 365 episodes when arguably 200 or 250 was enough. There are frankly boring sex scenes, and Alistair and Angus knock around for a lot of the summer. I'd quite liked them to have gone to Mykonos for all of June to September, and for Andy to have mislaid is diary at home. Instead it drags. By c. page 300 I was ready to give this a 3* or even 2*.
Part of the issue in the middle was also that for me the humour too often missed the mark. Lots of other reviewers have obviously found it comedy-central. But then I don't find RT Davies usually very funny, and have found myself laughing much more at Dickens. I like absurdity or character-based humour, but if gross-out laughs and fanny jokes are your thing, then turn off Mrs Brown's Boys and get stuck in.
It's a minor point, but some of the vocab seemed plain stilted. The diary format perhaps explains part of this. If I've ever tried keeping a diary, the results have been every-bit as wince-worthy. Nevertheless, the language used felt plain wrong coming out of the mouths of some characters ('confectionary' was a word Sally would never have said, surely - and there were lots of similar instances I didn't jot down). Dickens is also full of coincidences, so even the greats do it, but the dentist scene and ultimately Sally's revelations tool my credulity beyond snapping point.
Call me a grumpy sod, then, but when the action again got my serious from the autumn, I surprised myself by really getting back into it. STDs stop being played for laughs, and sexual health, self-care and the dependability of our closest friends and family all bring some ballast to bring the party balloon back to earth.
The book is casting to Bridget Jones, and to me misses that lofty mark. However, it's packed full of observations on family relationships and sexual instinct that will be all-too familiar to at least some who read this book.
It gets 3* from me, then, not least because with joie de vivre, it tackles big subjects, and presents its protagonists in all-too-human way. That fruity goodness lying underneath the surface may be as gross-out as Apple Pie at times, but this is the equivalent the LGBT community has possibly been waiting for. It took me far too close to home as well as to somewhere new, and there can be few better recommendations than that.
July 30, 2021
I miss Andy already!
What a book, what an adventure! Thoroughly enjoyed it, I laughed, cried, laughed again and fell in love with every single character. Well written and gripping, such a rare find, couldn’t recommend it enough.
What a book, what an adventure! Thoroughly enjoyed it, I laughed, cried, laughed again and fell in love with every single character. Well written and gripping, such a rare find, couldn’t recommend it enough.
August 8, 2019
A slow start that turned into a laugh-out-loud, hilariously enjoyable romp with an amazing ending that ties everything together in ways I couldn't have anticipated. On reflection it reminds me of the best parts of Tales of the City (only watched on Netflix, not read the books, sorry!), guilty pleasure soaps like Hollyoaks, an adult Adrian Mole (the diary format in particular) but far richer and deeper. It has genuinely changed the way I think about certain topics. Hard to say more without spoiling it but: read this book!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews