Hugh

"Intriguing, ambitious, and pretty damn delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed 'Hugh' and it gave me a lot to think about. This is a unique and exhilarating journey." – Alexis Hall, author of Boyfriend Material

From an old family trunk comes a manuscript which never saw the light of day. Its pages tell of a young man awakening to himself, his sexuality, and his world in this love letter to the era of Tom Jones.

The slightly spoiled, slightly poetical, slightly absurd son of an ambitious baronet, Hugh Entwistle possesses the wealth and connections to make him a success in Georgian England. But before pursuing a sinecure in the military, he will spend the summer of 1768 at his country estate – far from the turmoil in London this politically volatile year.

Only to discover a deeper, more profound turmoil within himself when he encounters the rebellious, and beautiful, son of the parish parson.

So begins the hilarious and heart-breaking collapse of a well-ordered world. Hugh paints a sprawling canvas of 18th century England – a world of wig powder and heeled slippers, of connivers and blackmailers, in which the search for Liberty will require Hugh to redefine the rules of the game.

Readers are enchanted with Hugh: A Hero without a Novel:

“Sui generis, thoroughly interesting, fabulously vivid in place and time. It’s extremely and realistically Georgian. A queer bildungsroman with more than a nod to Tom Jones, Tristram Shandy and the like. I found it absolutely fascinating...”
– KJ Charles, author of The Secret Lives of Country Gentleman (The Doomsday Books)

"'Hugh' is a deliciously satirical comedy, written in an antiquated syntax appropriate to the 18th century setting. At first entranced by, and then denied beauty, passion, and ecstasy (and what passion! ...the Sorrows of Young Werther came to mind...), Hugh becomes indifferent to offered pleasure until, at last, and in deathly fear of exposure, he attains the (outrageously, hilariously warped) Sublime." – Maria Huttenrauch, NetGalley Reviews

“…a work of queer historical archiving that’s as admirable and remarkable as its hero.” – Kirkus Reviews

“As good as the story is, and it’s a grand, queer coming-of-age story filled with colorful characters, voice and writing made it a 10-star novel for me. The quality of the writing and the spot-on timbre of the voice fully immerses the reader into Hugh’s world without a misstep in this seamless historical narrative.” – Coffee and Ink

“This book was everything I look for in a book. Page turning, as in couldn't put it down, intelligent, believable, made me laugh, made me cry and inspired my first ever book review. I'm not a man or gay but David Lawrence's writing helped me see each character. His books should be required reading.” – Belinda Alexander, NetGalley Reviews

“To set something like this account in the eighteenth century is no mean achievement. It is a work of literature and a tour de force.” – Briefstalk, Amazon Reviewer