Boy Caesar

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.

From Booklist

In his latest work, this English novelist known for his edginess provocatively parallels past and present. The past, within the parameters set here, is the third-century reign of Roman emperor Heliogabalus, who extravagantly, even ruinously, ruled for a brief four years before the army murdered him at age 18. His reign was marked by his overt homosexuality, marriage to a man, and worship of a sun god. The novel's present features a young gay man as well, named Jim, who, in contemporary London, is writing his doctoral dissertation on Heliogabalus. In the face of an actual paucity of biographical records, Jim has to fill in many blanks to re-create the young emperor's life. Thus, the portions of the novel given over to Heliogabalus' life are filtered through James' consciousness, and such anachronisms as "genome" and "pop-star appearance" are liberally sprinkled throughout (which is, nevertheless, an appropriate narrative technique in this case). The novel is sexually graphic but brilliant in its employment of history and its understanding of historical research. Brad HooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Scotsman

"Baroque time-travelling reading thrills . . . Reed’s tale tackles control and being out-of-control in virtuoso style."

About the Author

Jeremy Reed is the author of seven novels and five works of non-fiction. He has won the National Poetry Competition, the Eric Gregory Award, and the Somerset Maugham Award. He is also the author of well-received biographies of Lou Reed, Marc Almond, and Scott Walker.

Reviews

News