This Brutal House

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2019

'A true force of fierceness and beauty' OLIVIA LAING

'A vital book' ANDREW MCMILLAN

'This Brutal House leaves its reader full of a powerful, protesting energy' IRISH TIMES

'A powerful and poetic book' KERRY HUDSON

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.

Long-listed for Gordon Burn Prize 2019 (UK)
Long-listed for Jhalak Prize 2020 (UK)
Nominated for Rathbones Folio Prize 2020 (UK)

“As we await the second season of the TV drama Pose , the award-winning author Govinden brings us a timely queer protest novel set in the drag ball community of New York City. Vivid and poetic , the story explores belonging, tolerance and what it means to be a parent in a confused and complex society”

As we await the second season of the TV drama Pose, the award-winning author Govinden brings us a timely queer protest novel set in the drag ball community of New York City. Vivid and poetic, the story explores belonging, tolerance and what it means to be a parent in a confused and complex society - Sunday Times

[A] vibrant novel . . . Acerbic, encompassing, funny and mounting towards the spiritual, Govinden's book shows the complexity of drag balls and queer life. This is an important, and in places an experimental book, full of spark and wisdom. Its tone is in places elegiac, in others vibrant. Like the best drag acts, This Brutal House leaves its reader full of a powerful, protesting energy - Irish Times

Queer ball culture in New York has been explored recently in the TV show Pose, and in This Brutal House, Niven Govinden offers a different perspective - Stylist

A tale of voguing and protest - Guardian

This Brutal House is the finest novel to date from a brilliantly challenging, fearless and passionate writer - New Internationalist

This Brutal House shines a light on lives marginalised and magnificent

Vivid prose reinventing ideas of motherhood, belonging and taking us into the community of drag balls and protest, both personal and political

Niven Govinden is the author of six novels. Diary of a Film was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and is currently being developed for the screen. This Brutal House was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and shortlisted for the Polari and Gordon Burn Prizes.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2019 'A true force of fierceness and beauty' OLIVIA LAING 'A vital book' ANDREW MCMILLAN ' This Brutal House leaves its reader full of a powerful, protesting energy' IRISH TIMES 'A powerful and poetic book' KERRY HUDSON 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.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.