This, the debut novel from Belgian writer Angelo Tijssens (translated by Michele Hutchison), won the jury prize at the Prix Roman Gay in France, and it has already been translated into French, German and Spanish. In short: It’s got some pedigree. It tells the tale of an unnamed narrator who returns to his hometown to clear out the flat of his recently deceased, and somewhat abusive, mother. Before his return, he’d got in touch with a man (also unnamed) via social media, a man he had not seen for years, to ask if he’d like to meet up. The pair had had a passionate relationship when they were both teenagers. The man agrees. The narrative flips between the present and the past as Tijssens skilfully colours a love story that swells with both longing and torment. It’s a short piece – running to less than 100 pages – but its searing poignancy brings to mind Elizabeth Smart’s ‘By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept’. RM

Published by Daunt Books