The Guardian recently reviewed what sounds like a marvelous new book: Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains by an author with one of the best aptonyms I've seen in a long time: John Grindrod, an English social historian. (Insert your own joke here.)
As reviewer Rebecca Nicholson observes, Grindrod's approach pays subtle tribute to Armistead Maupin's beloved "Tales from the City" series. She also notes something I'm embarrassed to admit came as news to me: The most recent installment, Mona of the Manor, saw one of its key characters move to the Cotswolds to navigate a very different kind of village.
Grindrod grew up in Croydon and now lives with his partner in Milton Keynes; he opens the book with an anecdote about the thrill of finding out he has next-door “gaybours”. Nicholson says "his fascination with and connection to the subject have allowed him to weave an intelligent and sensitive collection of stories, interspersing research from libraries, archives, books, newsletters and reports with original interviews. As much as it is a social history, it is a political, an architectural (he links the popularity of bay windows to the rebellious Arts and Crafts movement, for example) and a cultural one." I plan to order a copy and nominate it for our next reading list if it lives up to expectations.
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