Alan Hollinghurst

Alan Hollinghurst (1954) is the author of seven novels, including The Swimming-Pool Library (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award), The Line of Beauty (winner of the Booker Prize), The Stranger’s Child (longlisted for the Booker Prize), and The Sparsholt Affair. He lives in London.

"Our Evenings is a truly remarkable novel—both subtle and unflinching, daring in its portrayal of race, class, sexuality, and social origins, all set against the stylish backdrop of London and the surrounding counties. It captures the story of a country undergoing sweeping changes, largely unnoticed by its inhabitants. The novel moves through time with such elegance and poise that, by the end, I was left with a profound sense of loss." —Tash Aw

Our Evenings is about Dave Win, who is thirteen years old when he first stays away from home with the Hadlows, who fund his scholarship to the local boarding school where he shares a class with their son Giles. For Dave, this means a world of tumultuous new possibilities, but it also exposes him to Giles' jealousy and violent behavior. Our Evenings spans half a century and shows how the boys go their separate ways—Dave becomes a talented actor who struggles with conventions and discrimination, while Giles grows into a more powerful and dangerous politician. Our Evenings is Dave Win's own account of his life as a schoolboy and student, his first loves, his time in London and touring with an experimental theater group, and a love later in life that brings him both a new sense of happiness and vulnerable security.

 Dark and radiant, poignant and devilishly funny: Alan Hollinghurst's new novel paints a portrait of modern England through the sharply observed and often unsettling experiences of one man. It is a story about race and class, theater and sexuality, love and violence, from one of the greatest writers of our time.

Alan Hollinghurst will sign books after the interview. His books (Eng/Dutch) will be for sale at the event.