Kansas in August

Like other Patrick Gale novels I've read, interestingly structured and plotty, but having read several other of his, turns of the story that might have surprised me once no longer do.

On the other hand, the London setting surprised me a little, with many of Gale's other novels set in a fictional smallish town, or having links to Cornwall. But the London in this short novel also felt slightly unreal.

Disappointing for a Patrick Gale book. Gay Hilary finds and takes home a baby. His lover Rufus becomes the lover of Hilary’s sister. Too many improbable plot elements for me to believe the story.

An entertaining story of gender identity between a man named Hilary and a woman named Henry (who are siblings) and they both fall for the same man Rufus. It was a little difficult to keep in mind that Hilary was actually the brother and Henry was the sister, the names alone want you to switch their roles and gender. A dry comedy about their lives as adults and the lies that we tell not only ourselves but also others about who we really are.

In this first novel, Dr Henry (Henrietta) Metcalfe falls for a hitch-hiker, Rufus. A psychiatrist and a teacher, both are intent on concealing their true identities. To complicate this comedy of sexual role reversal, Rufus is having an affair with Henry's brother, Hilary, who wants to be a father.