Box Hill: A story of low self-esteem

Description

A 2020 Spectator Book of the Year A 2020 Spectator Book of the Year 'I took one look at him, and I saw what he really wanted.' On the Sunday of his eighteenth birthday, in 1975, Colin takes a walk on Box Hill, a biker hang-out in Surrey. Timid, awkward, and very much out of his element, he accidentally trips over Ray, a biker taking a nap under a tree. Ray takes immediate control of the situation, and Colin moves in with him that night. A sizzling, sometimes shocking, and strangely tragic love story between two men, Box Hill is a stunning novel of desire and domination by one of Britain's most accomplished writers. 'The biggest small book of the year.' -The Guardian 'An exquisitely discomfiting tale of a submissive same-sex relationship ... perfectly realised.' -Anthony Cummins, The Observer 'A tender exploration of the love that truly dare not speak its name - that between master and slave. On his 18th birthday, Colin literally stumbles upon a strapping biker twice his age, and falls into a long-term relationship characterised by devotion, mystery, and submission. In plain unadorned prose, Mars-Jones shows us the tender, everyday nature of this. Self-deprecating, sad, and wise.' -Fiona McGregor

Adam Mars-Jones's books include the novels Pilcrow and Cedilla, part of a million-word sequence, and the monograph Noriko Smiling, about a classic Japanese film. He writes regularly for the London Review of Books.