Never After

The glimmering and surprisingly gritty latest from Hall (Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot) is a queer historical romance that tends slightly darker than the average genre fare. In 19th-century London, Michael “Micha” Dashwood is a sex worker whose addiction to opium has led him to illness and destitution. He is discovered, collapsed and semiconscious on the street, by Rev. Thomas Mandeville, who brings Micha home with him out of kindness—and, perhaps, a guilty sense of attraction. Mistrustful and quick to anger, Micha recovers under Thomas’s care with the help of heavy doses of laudanum. The men develop a grudging but genuine friendship. Meanwhile, Thomas’s inner turmoil grows alongside his feelings for Micha as he grapples with his sexuality and his religion. The tale toggles between the pair’s perspectives, allowing readers to deeply sympathize with both sides of a relationship laden with near insurmountable obstacles. It’s a gripping setup for a romance that refuses some of the easier paths to happily-ever-after, instead delivering a complex examination of religion, community, and addiction. In Hall’s hands, love may not conquer all, but it can conquer some—and this nuanced love story proves all the better for being so hard-won. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Apr.)