Read our June Monthly Spotlight: The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
This month we revisit a modern classic that defined a decade, on its 20th anniversary. Read an exclusive interview with the author, explore an extract and reading guide, and win a copy of the novel
Throughout June, and 20 years since its landmark Booker Prize win, we’re celebrating The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst, an era-defining novel in which a young man attempts to navigate a world to which he can never truly belong.
The book bagged the Booker in 2004 and quickly became one of the most talked about novels of the year when it was proclaimed, by some, the first ‘gay’ novel to win the prize. But the provocative headlines (‘A novel full of explicit gay sex seduced the judges,’ wrote theTelegraph) surrounding the win overlooked The Line of Beauty’s real story – a nuanced portrayal of politics and class privilege, set against the febrile atmosphere of Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s Britain.
It was the author’s fourth novel – and his second nomination, following The Folding Star which was shortlisted in 1994 – all of which were written from a gay perspective. ‘It just seemed how things were,’ reflects Hollinghurst, in an exclusive interview with the Booker Prizes. ‘If a fuss was made about the novel’s gayness, it seemed also to suggest that the time was at hand when it might no longer cause a fuss.’
This June, which is also Pride Month, join us in celebrating this groundbreaking work that propelled LGBTQIA+ narratives into the literary mainstream. You can read Hollinghurst’s full interview, which includes more on his inspirations, the 2006 BBC television adaptation, and how he celebrated his Booker win, over on our Monthly Spotlight page. You can also read an extract from the novel, explore our reading guide, and enter our competition to win a copy of the novel and a Booker Prize tote bag. Happy reading!
‘Winning changed my life and my prospects at once’: Alan Hollinghurst on his 2004 Booker Prize triumph
To mark the 20th anniversary, the author reflects on the transformative impact of his win with The Line of Beauty.
‘I’m not an especially competitive person,’ Hollinghurst says, ‘and having been shortlisted for the Prize ten years earlier I felt I had the advantage of a certain detachment from the whole thing: wonderful to be shortlisted, fabulous to win, but absolutely fine not to win. The Line of Beauty had come out five months earlier, and had generally been well received, and I was happy to have got that far.
‘Winning, of course, changed my life and my prospects at once: a huge increase in income, foreign rights sold in many new territories, and the start of nearly two years of whizzing round the world talking about the book. I decided to ride the wave and get the most out of it, and it was a very happy experience – only slowly undermined, towards the end, by a feeling that I couldn’t keep answering the same ten questions for much longer. I was pining to be alone at my desk and writing something new.’
Read an extract from The Line of Beauty
In the summer of 1983, 20-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the wealthy Feddens: Gerald, an ambitious Tory MP, his wife Rachel and their children Toby and Catherine. Innocent of politics and money, Nick is swept up into the Feddens’ world and an era of endless possibility, all the while pursuing his own private obsession with beauty. Read an extract from the opening of our latest Monthly Spotlight title here.
Discover our reading guide to The Line of Beauty
Whether you’re new to The Line of Beauty or have read it and would like to explore it more deeply, discover more in our comprehensive guide, which includes a synopsis, character summaries, critics’ comments and a range of discussion points for book clubs.
Win a copy of The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst and a Booker Prize tote bag
To celebrate our latest Monthly Spotlight, we are giving you the chance to win one of five copies of The Line of Beauty, plus a limited-edition Booker Prize tote bag. This competition is open to readers across the world. Good luck!
Have you read The Line of Beauty, or are you joining us in reading the novel this month? If so, we’d love to hear what you think in the comments below