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Radical Love

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Radical Love

By: Neil Blackmore
Narrated by: Anthony Howell
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Welcome to England, 1809. London is a violent, intolerant city, exhausted by years of war, beset by soaring prices and political tensions. By day, John Church preaches on the radical possibilities of love to a multicultural, working-class congregation in Southwark. But by night, he crosses the river to the secret and glamorous world of a gay molly house on Vere Street, where ordinary men reinvent themselves as funny, flirtatious drag queens and rent boys cavort with labourers and princes alike. There, Church becomes the first minister to offer marriages between men, at enormous risk.

Everything changes when Church meets the unworldly and free-thinking Ned, part of a group of African activist abolitionists who attend his chapel. The two bond over their broken childhoods, and Church falls obsessively in love with Ned's tender nature. In a fragile, colourful secret world under threat, Church's love for Ned takes him to the edge of reason.

Based on the incredible true story of one of the most important events in queer history, Radical Love is a sensuous and prescient story about gender and sexuality, and how the most vulnerable survive in dangerous times.

©2023 Neil Blackmore (P)2023 Penguin Audio
20th Century Historical Fiction Regency Regency Romance Romance England Funny Royalty
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Critic reviews

Forget Bridgerton. Neil Blackmore's Radical Love give us the people of Regency England and its people as they really were; brutally intolerant, scarred by slavery, marred by oppression and social injustice. Don't look for heroes here - look for life as it's really lived, people as they really are. (ANNIE GARTHWAITE, author of Cecily)
Neil Blackmore re-imagines an astounding story of gay men in London 200 years ago and under the pain of their betrayal and injustice, he uncovers loyalty and above all, love. I relished every page. (SIR IAN MCKELLEN)
Utterly compelling. So beautifully written, so many twists and turns and achingly sad moments where I gasped aloud. I haven't read a novel that's tugged at my heartstrings as much as this since John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies. A must-read ... I'll be thinking about it for a long time to come. (JOHN MARRS)

What listeners say about Radical Love

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Enlightening and fascinating

This is well written, and very well read. It would be a great novel, but it's actually even better as it's very much based on evidence and facts. it should be widely read, as it delves into the hypocrisy of hypocrisy! The characters were well drawn, and the storyline was fascinating, even up to the last sentences. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fabulous

salacious, historical & relevant, excellent narration, characters so vivid you could touch them, I inhaled this book, thank you

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

A beautifully crafter telling of real life historical events that capture the full essence of trauma felt by gay men at that time, living under the shadow of violence and deaths penalties for the crime of being different. An amazing story, so carefully articulated and with perfect narration. Highly recommend.

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Powerful

This is a very disturbing and thought-provoking book - and superbly narrated. It made me think more deeply about slavery and race, homophobia and the precarious nature of LGBT+ rights, about religious hypocrisy and about truth.

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Outstandingly good ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Outstandingly good ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and the narrator is excellent too. Only the production is poor with too much bass to the voice and no respect at all for full stops or pauses.

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Persuasive narrator

Complicated! Does it’s best to include multiple current issues and themes as well as developing rich character development and an incredible narrator

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