Neon Roses
SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI PRIZE 2024
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4.0 • 11 Ratings
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE POLARI PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BETTY TRASK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
'A BIG-HEARTED STORY ABOUT FINDING YOUR FEET AND FOLLOWING YOUR HEART' SARAH WATERS
'JOYFULLY QUEER, FILTHY AND FUN' CHLOE TIMMS
'A HUG AND A SNOG OF A BOOK' SO MAYER
Eluned Hughes is stuck. It's 1984 in a valley in south Wales: the miners' strike is ravaging her community; her sister's swanned off with a Thatcherite policeman; and her boyfriend Lloyd keeps bringing up marriage. And if they play '99 Red Balloons' on the radio one more time, she might just lose her mind.
Then the fundraising group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners comes down from London, and she meets June, a snaggle-toothed blonde in a too-big leather jacket. Suddenly, Eluned isn't stuck any more - she's in freefall.
June's an artist and an activist. With June, Eluned can imagine a completely different life for herself. But as her family struggles with the strike, and her relationship with her sister deteriorates, should she really leave it all behind?
From the Valleys to the nightclubs of Cardiff, London and Manchester, NEON ROSES is a heartwarming, funny and a little bit filthy queer coming-of-age story with a cracking '80s soundtrack.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Shrouded in a “cloud of Elnett and Anaïs Anaïs”, the period detail in Dawson’s mid-1980s-set debut is impeccable—the music, the fashion, the relentless smoking, the homophobia... The backdrop is a small Welsh Valleys town, where the miners are striking, money is tight, and young woman Eluned is wrestling with the personal as well as the political. Enter June, a lesbian activist from London and “a cold lemon squash on a hot afternoon”, as Eluned puts it. What follows is a glorious love story; beautifully written, full of nuance, wit and warmth, and with lashings of sex. What more can you ask for? Fans of 2014 movie Pride and Russell T. Davies’ Channel 4 drama It’s a Sin will adore this assured debut.
