A kaleidoscopic, intimate coming-of-age novel of modern queer life
Set in London across a single, life-altering summer, Curtis Garner's debut novel, Isaac, is a queer story for our digital age, offering new perspectives on desire and intimacy, adolescent obsession, and dangerous first love.
Isaac is an inexperienced gay youth whose first sexual encounter via a dating app is disappointing, yet thrillingly addictive. He spends his final months before university escaping into a dizzying new world of casual sex, but his world changes when he meets twenty-eight-year-old Harrison at a party.
Isaac is immediately drawn to this handsome, charismatic artist, but as they grow closer, his sense of self becomes increasingly hazy. As Harrison becomes more demanding, Isaac tries everything to prove his worthiness, but he soon realizes that he must confront his toxic ideas about love, sex, and men, as well as himself.
Written with verve and confidence, Isaac brilliantly captures the capriciousness of youth and the vagaries of queer desire.
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About the Author :
Curtis Garner (he/him) was born in Cornwall, UK, in 1996. He has a degree in creative writing and English literature from the University of Greenwich and an MA with Distinction from the Manchester Writing School, where much of Isaac was written. In his spare time, he reviews novels on Instagram (@queer_novels). He lives in the London borough of Hackney.
Review :
"So vivid and real, it brought a thousand memories rushing back."
―Russell T Davies, creator of Queer as Folk and It's a Sin
"Beautifully written ... In precise prose, Garner considers the interplay of desire, shame, masculinity and queerness in the digital age."
―The Bookseller (UK) (Editor's Choice)
"Garner's novel, bold and unflinching, asks how we project different identities onto those whom we love―or think we do."
--The Telegraph (4 stars)
"Isaac is gorgeous. Painful and funny, honest and thorough, filled with characters so big hearted you'll want to sit down with them and tell them 'everything's going to be OK.'"
--August Thompson, author of Anyone's Ghost
"Isaac is a raw, deep, and tender tale that will transport you back to your own experiences of young love--the anxieties, the challenges, and the triumphs. I loved meeting Isaac and you will too. Curtis Garner is a promising new talent."
--Mohsin Zaidi, author of A Dutiful Boy
"A smart, aching account of the longing days at the end of adolescence, when the urge to discover the world eclipses what we yet know about ourselves. As Isaac searches for sex, love, and something greater in the arms and eyes of others, we are reminded that years alone cannot free us from the desire to be desired. Garner has gifted us a coming-of-age novel about an adulthood we never fully achieve and a youth we never really leave behind."
--Craig Willse, author of Providence
