Weirdly, this is the second book I’ve read within a couple of weeks with a character called Mr Lavelle. What are the chances?

London 1763, and brothers Edgar and Benjamin Bowen, sons of a Welsh-born shipping merchant, are setting out on a “Grand Tour” of Europe. Their ambitious and well read mother, Rachel, who has drilled them in philosophy and history, wants them to experience Culture and associate with People of Quality. Edgar hopes to meet pretty girls, but Benjamin already knows he prefers boys, though he has little context for this knowledge other than dark rumours of sodomites, hung for their transgressions.

Of course, the People of Quality, once met, turn out to be anything but, steeped in snobbishness, hypocrisy and entitlement. Edgar is happy to immerse himself in their world, but Benjamin knows they remain outsiders who will only ever be looked down on for their origins.

Then he meets Horace Lavelle. Young Mr Lavelle is delightful, subversive, damaged, unpredictable, charming, ferocious, seductive, respectful of nothing.... He’s rather irritating, in fact, but Benjamin is instantly beguiled, and soon deeply in love. But there’s no easy life for a gay man in the 1700s, and Benjamin’s relationship with Lavelle will have devastating effects. What will it cost for him to be true to his own feelings?

The setting was fascinating and original; I’ve never read a novel about gay life in the 1700s before - not that the words gay or homosexual are ever mentioned, of course. There are other terms for men like Benjamin and Lavelle. Benjamin moves in a society where men wear wigs, powder and beauty spots but being gay - or Jewish, or anything other than impeccably aristocratic - is beyond the pale. Mr Lavelle is a catalyst for chaos, effortlessly skewering pretension and hypocrisy wherever he finds it. (Everywhere.)

Rather like the man himself, The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle is fascinating, compelling, and ultimately very, very angry.

Brothers Benjamin and Edgar Bowen embark upon a grand tour of Europe - planned by an ambitious mother - to enjoy the books, art and philosophy but most of all to make friends with the quality. But Benjamin isn't as confident as Edgar when it comes to introducing himself, that is until he meets Horace Lavelle, who's beautiful, charismatic and seductive.
This book wasn't what I thought it was but I really enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

It's the 1790s and Benjamin and his brother Edgar find themselves on the Grand Tour of Europe, a journey into society pushed upon them by their parents. It's also a journey into their family history, societal acceptance, and for Benjamin, the discovery of sex.

Light and entertaining.

Despite some misgivings about what initially seemed stereotypical about a gay man's flamboyant attractions, this settled into a real exploration of self- awareness and reception of what appears to have been taken as 'Gay' life in a young naive man's life - newly awakened to his own attractions. Atmosphere and time and place are rendered persuasively and I was gripped to read on and find out what would transpire in our young man's new life. Adept and well rendered - highly recomment.

Brothers Benjamin and Edgar embark on a Grand Tour, but soon find their station in life – as sons of a shipping merchant – a barrier to progress. In Paris, they discover their ambitious mother’s secret past and Benjamin falls under the spell of the louche Henry Lavell.

The pages bristle with rage at social inequality, bigotry and homophobia. There are also some poignant moments, such as Benjamin shunning his fellow-passengers on his return to England, and his recognition of the way the dead become hallowed in their survivors’ minds. A mother clutching her baby while inciting the crowd to kill Benjamin and Henry was a wonderfully caustic moment and reminded this reader of news footage of the miners’ strike in Thatcherite Britain.

While Benjamin’s character is fully formed, those around him remain shadowy. The Quality (the elite) are stereotypes. Even with the intoxicating agent of chaos that is Mr Lavell, we are hard-pressed to understand Benjamin’s attraction.

The dialogue is a strange brew of contemporary and faux-eighteenth century. Edgar’s postcards home read like he’s at summer camp (‘Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, Here I am at Camp Granada…’).

Blackmore should give his readers more credit. Instead, he over-explains, as in Benjamin’s simplification of the quote by Suetonius. However, the switches between referring to a character as ‘mother’ and ‘Rachel’ are confusing.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin (UK) Publishing for the ARC.

Exhilarating and fascinating, with the themes brilliantly explored and the research lightly worn. Can't wait for this to come out.