Customs of the Country by Rupert Thomas (Idol / Virgin Publishing, 1998)

A gay coming-of-age novel set in 1920s Kent, from Idol, Virgin Publishing's now-defunct homoerotic fiction imprint. Written by Rupert Thomas, published 1998.

The year is 1924. James Cardell has finished school and is preparing for Oxford in the autumn, but first he is sent down to spend the summer with cousins in a tiny Kent village. There he can quietly indulge his frowned-upon love of painting and, more secretly, his growing fascination with the male body. Guided by his cousin and drawn into the half-hidden activities of the village lads, James discovers what really goes on behind closed barn doors and finds himself fixated on Gabriel, a beautiful local boy. What begins as youthful curiosity turns into something darker, more obsessive, and harder to walk away from.

Cover design by Slatter-Anderson, cover photography by Colin Clarke. Adult fiction, originally retailed at £6.99. 192 pages.

Of particular interest to readers in Kent and Garden of England locals, with its evocative period setting in the county's villages. The Idol imprint has been out of print for years and copies are increasingly hard to source. A solid pick for collectors of vintage gay paperbacks or 1920s period queer fiction.

Condition: See wear on scans

ISBN: 9780352332462