The Bedevilments

'Reading this book is like walking through one of those discreet doors that lead to a low-lit room full of barely clothed strangers who act as if they know you, offer you a drink and invite you to sit on a velvet couch. John Gay knows the brothels of Sydney, the way intimacy and anonymity dance there, the mental rasp of urban life meeting fake-silk sheets and body wash, and how forlorn souls seek company in the closest of conjunctions and tidiest of schedules. He knows the desolation of a young man’s modern life in gig-economy fragility, and he knows the sweet reek of alcohol coming off lonely skin. Clever, touching and captivating. I worked in brothels and lived in grungey apartments; I’ve been there myself, but still I couldn’t put The Bedevilments down.' Kate Holden, author of In My Skin and The Winter Road 

'Hardcore, rueful, weirdly romantic; the spirit of Patrick Hamilton presides over this close-up tale of sex addiction in an obsessive world of unforgivable sins and anonymous virtues. A story that refuses to give up on hope.' David Flusfeder, author of Something Might Fall and John the Pupil