Entertainment
Book Club: Read ‘Our Evenings,’ by Alan Hollinghurst, With the Book Review
In January, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “Our Evenings,” a sweeping story about the life, loves, struggles and triumphs of a queer English Burmese actor.
Welcome to the Book Review Book Club! Every month, we select a book to discuss with our readers. Sometimes that’s a new book we’re excited about and would love to introduce you to; other times, it’s an older book that’s back in the cultural spotlight. What do all of our selections have in common? They’re great reads primed for robust, thoughtful conversations. Last month, we read “Small Things Like These,” by Claire Keegan.
Readers, it’s that time of year: 2024 is coming to a close and 2025 is peeking around the corner. If you are in certain parts of the United States, winter is descending, which means short days, long nights and cold weather.
I don’t know about you, but this twilight period is one of my favorite times of year. The anticipation of, and early steps into, the new year brings optimism and ambition, and the seasonal chill means I want to spend more time hibernating with a good book.
If you are also looking for a good book to kick off the year, you’re in luck.
This January, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “Our Evenings,” by Alan Hollinghurst.
The novel, which was one of the Book Review’s 100 Notable Books of 2024, is a sweeping tale that follows a gay English Burmese actor as he confronts confusing relationships, his emerging sexuality, racism and England’s changing political climate in the late 20th and early 21st century. It’s the story of a life — beautifully told by a literary master (Hollinghurst’s 2004 novel, “The Line of Beauty,” won the Booker Prize and was recently named one of The New York Times’s Best Books of the 21st Century) who, over the course of his 30-year career, has helped pave the way for queer literature.
