Box Hill: A Story of Low Self-Esteem

Synopsis

Winner of the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize, Box Hill is a tender and sharply observed coming-of-age novel set within London's gay biker community during the 1970s. On his eighteenth birthday, Colin falls unexpectedly and completely in love with the charismatic, older Ray. Through Colin's warm, self-deprecating voice, the novel traces the exhilaration of first love alongside the realities of class, family, prejudice, and the search for belonging.

Both funny and deeply moving, Adam Mars-Jones captures the vulnerability of youth with remarkable compassion and wit. Box Hill is a novel about love, identity, and the ways people shape one another, told with quiet emotional intelligence and an unforgettable narrative voice.

About the Author

Adam Mars-Jones is a British novelist, critic, and essayist. Widely respected for his literary criticism and fiction, he is the author of Pilcrow, Cedilla, and several collections of essays and reviews. Box Hill won the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize and has been praised for its humour, generosity, and emotional precision.

Publisher
New Directions

Publication Date
February 22, 2022

Format
Paperback

Pages
160

Subjects
Literary Fiction · LGBTQ+ Fiction · British Literature · Coming-of-Age

ISBN
9780811230056

       Mars-Jones uses Colin’s naivete to give a fresh view of the world and of love. Before long, however, homophobia, class, family strife, and loss rear their ugly heads. Yet in the end, it seems Colin’s modest view oddly takes in the widest horizon: he learns that “people can care about anything.” A surprise and a pleasure, Box Hill is an intensely moving short novel.