This book is written in a way that is hard to get into, but, once you do it works its magic. It is written from Johnny's perspective in a stream of consciousness. It contradicts itself, it switches from the current day to the past but it feels real. Which means its a gut punch when it comes to the hard stuff. It flashes back to the 90s when Aids was a death sentence, before antivirals. Those bits within the crazy sex and parties of his younger days and his current more sedate but still sexy life really hit hard.

Promising and distinctive debut
—
Johnny maintains his long-dead lover’s home and garden when a new highrise development threatens to overshadow the life that Johnny has built as a memorial to Jerry and a survival tactic of his own. As Johnny tries to make sense of what is happening and what he must do next, his memories come to life, of meeting Jerry, the early days of their relationship, the city as it was, the freedom and fear of the early AIDS crisis, and in the end his life without Jerry. Johnny’s stream-of-consciousness voice elides past, present and future, reminding him of what’s truly important and how he can truly honour Jerry’s memory.

I can recognise something great, even if I don’t particularly like it. This is literary fiction of the first water, a witness to history and a lost culture, to those who have already departed and to those who still live with their memories. But it’s a hell of a slog: I suggest not trying to read this in one go but dip in as and when alongside other books, and let Johnny’s hypnotic voice percolate into your consciousness. Otherwise, you might give up before you see how it all comes together from impressions, metaphors and memories to a palimpsest of a city (London, specifically, but the ur-city) as a twin of the body, of an alt-culture, of another country.

Four and a half stars

Thank you to Particular Books and NetGalley for this arc.

It was a very interesting read, but a really hard one. It’s about love and loss, but truly it’s about a lot more than that.

I found the writing style not to my taste at first and even contemplated giving up. But after a while, I realized the rawness of the prose matched the subject matter very well. It was the best way to tell the story of Johnny and Jerry. At the end, I looked at the Interactive AIDS quilt and it was really heartbreaking to look at more than a few names (it’s Pride month now too).

Nova Scotia House is so called because it’s where Johnny, the narrator, currently lives and where his lover, Jerry, lived when he first met him. It’s a novel, but it sets out to memorialise the gay community’s experience of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and in many ways reads like a historical document, a testimony. That makes it sound dry, but it’s not, its style reflecting the spirit of the age by being jumbled, frenetic, explicit, tender, mournful. It’s taken me a while to work out quite what I think about this book. It feels true to the 80s, to that specific period, and perhaps if you weren’t there you might not care, but on balance its thematic preoccupations, with life, with death and in particular with memory and remembering, give it sufficient universal resonance. Yes, it’s quite contradictory – solemn and sad, but also wild and exuberant – but that’s what makes it distinctive.

BRILLIANT!!
ngl I cried reading this - stream of consciousness style of writing will always be my favourite - I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO EVERYONE

An interesting concept and it really sounds like it should be my bag, but I found the stream-of-consciousness writing style too hard to parse.

Not one for me.

A story of love and loss.

Likeable but somewhat rambling at times which sadly made it difficult reading

Very moving account of a love between two people. Despite the age gap, it's a real love rather than a traditional love.
Enjoyable and moving.

An incredibly moving story of love and loss. This took me a while to get through - the prose is written in a stream-of-consciousness style that took some time to get on board with, but proved very effective in putting the reader in the headspace of grieving Johnny, and the themes are heavy. By the end I was won over entirely by this unique ode to the lives lost by the AIDS crisis; really touching.

Also heavy on the blowjobs and bodily fluids so maybe don’t buy it for your nan x

A book about Love, loss and grief at the height of the AIDS epidemic.
Johnny lives in Nova Scotia House, a place he once shared with his lover Jerry who died of the disease 24 years earlier. He sees himself as a survivor who has lost so many friends to the disease and he is reflecting upon what a cruel period in time this was.
The book seemed to be rather rambling and I could not really get used to it. I can see that it was written this way to reflect the jumble of thoughts and feelings of Johnny who does seem to be stuck with his memories of the era when his lover died. I feel that it this story would have benefitted from being written in a more conventional style which would have detracted less from the story being told. However, the writing style was something that I could not get used to and I am afraid it really wasn’t for me.

A breathlessly written stream of consciousness novel charting the impact of love and HIV in nineties London.

This is one of those books that leaves a lasting and memorable impact.

The story of Johnny and how he is dealing with his continued grief decades after he lost his partner is moving and a testament to the impact people can have on our lives. It’s a truly gripping depiction of the queer community during the AIDS Crisis as well as a celebration of how a community continued to be creative and vibrant in the face of unimaginable loss and adversity.

The only thing that holds this novel back for me is the writing style. The story is delivered as Johnny’s inner monologue which can be effective however at times it almost felt like reading a persons brain dump. The excessive repetition felt like an attempt at poetic prose but ended up feeling grating to me.

It’s a mesmerising story that could have been told a bit better.

Beautiful but devastating. Johnny still lives in Nova Scotia House, 24 years after his lover, Jerry, died from AIDS. A block of flats is being built, that will cast its shadow over Jerry‘s beloved garden, leading Johnny to look back and reflect on their time together.

This is told in a stream of consciousness style, with a lack of punctuation in the printed word. This flow wasn‘t reflected in the audio, which was very staccato, almost list-like, which didn‘t work for me. (Loved the author‘s voice on audio - just not the delivery). I started with audio then switched to digital print halfway through, where the writing style was *much* more impactful and appropriate. Loved the end

This was a beautiful book of love, loss and grief in a society devastated by the AIDS epidemic

I didn’t like the writing style at first but I enjoyed it after reading further into the novel . So emotional and powerful, devastating and heartbreaking - actually loved it

Charlie Porter - amazing novel - thank you

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Press

So - this is a book I have had on my TBR pile and it was after I read a favourable review that I promoted it. Porter is dealing with a very sensitive, emotive topic in 'Nova Scotia House' which largely focuses on Jonathan and his relationship with Jerry, his partner, who is much older than him. Clearly, Jerry is dying from an AIDS-related illness and Jonathan is dealing with trauma through the first-person narrative of the book.

It is, obviously, a very sad thing for Jonathan to be managing, and given the epidemic of the 1980s (this is largely set in the early 1990s), he is surrounded by the deaths of loved ones, and Jerry is at the core of this. The book reads like a stream of consciousness - and even though I get this is probably a representation of his state of mind, for me this style of writing jars. To add to this, I find the repetition irritating - yes, okay, perhaps it is how Jonathan would have been feeling, therefore accurately conveying his thoughts, but for a reader it leaves one feeling discombobulated.

There is a large sense of things being anonymous in the book, such as the city where Nova Scotia House is located (possibly London?), and the area Jonathan moves to with Gareth and Megan, and perhaps this is a deliberate choice of the writer. I do like the way the novel's denouement hints at more to come for Jonathan - he certainly deserves good things.

I am not sure how to respond more positively to this book. I can appreciate the way the writer is depicting such an awful event in our history - and how this affects one person in particular - but it leaves me cold in other ways.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Nova Scotia House is a poignant tribute to queer love and loss.

Charlie Porter's debut novel, Nova Scotia House, is a deeply moving exploration of love, grief, and the resilience of queer life during and after the AIDS crisis. Set in London, the story follows Johnny Grant, a 19-year-old who falls in love with Jerry Field, a 45-year-old HIV-positive man. Their relationship unfolds against the backdrop of the 1990s AIDS epidemic, a time when the virus was still untreatable. Jerry's death in 1995 leaves Johnny to navigate a world forever changed by loss.​

The titular Nova Scotia House is not just a setting but a character in itself. Inspired by Modernist architects like Berthold Lubetkin and Horace Gifford, the building reflects a philosophy of exceptional social housing and queer-specific spaces. Porter imagines it as a sanctuary where Johnny and Jerry build their life together, a place that becomes increasingly threatened by the encroaching forces of gentrification and societal change. ​

Porter's prose is characterized by its stream-of-consciousness style, employing a relentless use of commas and a staccato rhythm that mirrors the emotional intensity of the era. This narrative technique immerses readers in Johnny's experiences, capturing the urgency and rawness of his memories. The novel delves into themes of grief, memory, and the longing for a lost community, offering a poignant reflection on the impact of the AIDS crisis on queer lives. ​

If you're interested in a literary work that delves into the intricacies of queer love, loss, and the resilience of community, Nova Scotia House offers a compelling and thought-provoking experience.

I really thought I would love this book but after several attempts, it’s just not for me. The content probably is, but unfortunately I can’t get on with the stream-of-consciousness narrative. I found it difficult and distracting. I would like it known my rating reflects only my thoughts on the style of this novel and not its content.

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

The timeline of this hugely compassionate novel veers between the present day and some point in the early or mid '90s as far as I could tell, and in doing so it charts a potted history of gay life in London during that time. It gives a snapshot of the ostracism of the 1980s, especially after HIV/AIDS erupted on the scene; of marginalised gay communities on the fringes and under the radar of society, living in abandoned warehouses in what is now the luxury of London's Docklands and caring about each other because nobody else did.

The protagonists are Johnny and Jerry, who meet each other when the much older Jerry is already HIV positive. Johnny is only 19, Jerry is in his 40s, but theirs is true love. Johnny moves into Jerry's run down council flat and is tutored by Jerry in living independently, sustainably, kindly. Jerry is a forerunner of today's environmentally conscious philosophy and he puts it into practice wholeheartedly, growing vegetables in his garden, reusing whatever he can. After Jerry dies (a truly harrowing description of dying of AIDS a few months before antiretrovirals became available), Johnny carries on living according to his philosophy, until the present day when creeping gentrification means the old council block is being surrounded by luxury developments, the light will be blocked from Jerry's garden, and Johnny must finally find his own feet.

What struck me most about this book was the kindness that suffuses it. There is no rose-tinted romanticisation of the hedonistic, promiscuous queer lifestyle, but the sense of community, acceptance, support is huge. And the fun - even in spite of the fear of infection, the fun goes on. Perhaps with more of an edge. This is true communal spirit, with no pretence, no hidden agendas - a hippy philosophy and way of life in the best sense. Recommended.

Tender, emotional and utterly gorgeous - this book was beautifully written and filled with so much heart and tragedy. Love shone through each page, through the characters' found family and relationships, like a beacon of hope amidst all of the devastation of the AIDS crisis and the lives that were changed irrevocably because of the impact of this disease.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This was just beautiful. So well written, but in a completely edgy, different way, that was hard to grasp at the beginning but made it more poetic as you continued through. Breathtaking.