Boy Caesar
Author | : Jeremy Reed |
Publisher | : Peter Owen Publishers |
Total Pages | : 244 |
Release | : 2014-07-01 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780720616026 |
ISBN-13 | : 0720616026 |
Rating | : 4/5 (026 Downloads) |
Download or read book Boy Caesar written by Jeremy Reed and published by Peter Owen Publishers. This book was released on 2014-07-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past comes to haunt contemporary London in this evocation of the life of the little-known Roman boy-emperor Heliogabalus. The Roman gay world is mirrored in Jim's relations with his duplicitous partner Danny and the contemporary London scene they inhabit. Events take a weird twist when Jim discovers that his partner is living a double life as a member of a Soho cult involving bizarre sex rites on Hampstead Heath. Jim, repulsed by the cult's activities, finds his relationship with Danny at an end and that he has become a target for the leader's reprisals. He is forced to take refuge with a female friend, Masako, with whom he visits Rome to investigate sites associated with Heliogabalus. She leads him to a meeting with a wealthy young man called Antonio who claims to be the emperor reincarnated. When Jim and Masako return to London, Antonio pays them a visit which leads to a conclusion every bit as dramatic as Heliogabalus' own murder. An electrifying poetic recreation of a bizarre period of ancient history, this narrative also dissolves boundaries of gender in the complex relationship of Jim and Masako.