I do not know why I continue to buy books that, well written though they may be, are downers. All the way through it was edge of unhappiness. Even when Seaton seems happy...it is like waiting for the other shoe to drop...you know nothing good is coming. ( )

The final novel written by the author of "Careful, He Might Hear You", this story is based on the author's own experiences as a young gay man in Sydney in the 1930's and '40's. The story is about Seaton Daly, his life and his search for love - I found the book at times quite funny but mostly it is sad - definitely worth reading for an insight into life in Australia at that time. Seaton, like Elliott, 'escapes' to live in the USA - but it is debatable whether his life is really any better. ( )

Growing up gay in Sydney, Australia, on the eve of WW II is the subject of this mannered novel, Elliott's ninth, which ranges from tender lyricism to grotesque satire. Son of an aloof mother who idolized his dead hero father, Seaton Daly is orphaned young. Seduced by another schoolboy, Seaton moves from one tremulous, unsuccessful affair to the next.