Terrific story, I'm so glad I was chosen to get to read this one. Hiding parts of my life away from the world made me relate to the struggle of the characters.

Anthropologically, this is one of those books -- like James Barr's Quatrefoil -- that is important to an understanding of the psychology of a certain generation of gay men. That's not to say that characters in one book by one author should be taken to represent of a large number of real people -- they should not! -- but only to say that many elements in this book do represent well-known erotic tropes from its time (as well as more timeless and universal tropes, in some cases), and there are plenty of societal obstacles for the ostensible heroes to overcome.

In the hands of the right readers at the right time, I can see why this book gave hope to many a closeted gay teen who needed assurance that A) a happy romantic ending was possible for them someday, and B) there was a secret demimonde out there somewhere, where they could be accepted (and also find plenty of cock).

That being said, reading this ultimately provoked in me a sentiment similar to that of Goodreads reviewer Michael: "A 'classic' that's morally objectionable by contemporary standards and has really never been anything but good period-piece trash. I was riveted."

Many of the sexual scenes in the first half read like total wank fantasy with little basis in realistic sexual response or human anatomy. Fair enough. There's a lot of random Filthy Rich People Bestowing Unearned Wealth Upon Beautiful Blond Boys. Fair enough. The main problem is that Charlie is basically an irredeemable asshole. I spent most of the book trying to figure out if the main narrative voice (an older Charlie thinking back on his youth) is judgmental of this assholery, but in the end it proves that it is not, because its ultimately more important for Charlie and Peter to have their happy ending than it is for Charlie to be punished for things like rape, wife-beating, racism, snobbishness, narcissism, etc. Poor Peter should have chosen Tim when he had the chance. They could have had their own happy ending. I also really liked Hattie, once I got past the way that Charlie saw her and read between the lines to see a strong and confident woman.

If only Peter had been the true main POV and not Charlie. ANYONE but reprehensible Charlie!

But yeah: "Trash. I was riveted."