The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle

Most so-called comic novels these days barely raise a smirk. Enter Neil Blackmore to show us all how it’s done with his hugely entertaining romp through 18th-century Europe. The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle is a novel for which the word “rollicking” might have been invented … From the start, Benjamin’s voice is a delight … Blackmore draws clear parallels between the social and financial disparities of the 18th century and today … The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle is the kind of novel that a reader can sink into, delighting in the merriment of the prose and the eccentricity of the protagonists. But it’s not just played for laughs: it’s also an insightful study into a period of history often overlooked in fiction. – John Boyne * Irish Times *
Seductive, decadent, cruel and utterly thrilling - just like Horace Lavelle himself. This is The Talented Mr Ripley for the twenty-first century. * Emma Flint, author of ‘Little Deaths’ *
An original and spirited novel. * The Times *
I gorged myself with wicked glee on Horace Lavelle, and his scandalous joyride through society. Thrillingly cruel, heartbreakingly tender and altogether exhilarating; don’t believe a word Lavelle says but relish every one of them. * Zoe Gilbert, author of ‘Folk’ *
Wildly entertaining and painfully heartbreaking … a surprisingly timeless journey of self-discovery and the queer experience. Neil Blackmore writes with a fizzy wit that bounds his characters off the page and yet a gentle tenderness that may break your heart. * Ben Aldridge *
A dark and sexy whirl across the Continent on a Grand Tour like no other. Under the spell of the dangerous, delicious Horace Lavelle, every Enlightenment certainty is undone, every taboo is broken and every hypocrisy is wildly and thoroughly trampled. * Alix Christie, author of ‘Gutenberg’s Apprentice’ *
Sexy, smart, funny, dark. Get ready for the intoxicating Mr Lavelle! * Anna Mazzola, author of ‘The Story Keeper’ *
Blackmore’s seductive tale of two brothers who fall in with a mysterious stranger while on a Grand Tour of 18th century Europe fizzes with wit and invention. * i paper *
[A] lively narrative. * Sunday Times *
[A]n enjoyable dip into decadence. * Observer *

Neil Blackmore is the author of five novels. His work has been acclaimed for its radical redrawing of the historical fiction form and the parameters of queer historical fiction. His third novel, The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle, was shortlisted for the Polari Prize for LGBTQ+ Fiction, and he has been celebrated as ‘one of the most original voices in historical fiction today’ (The Times). He lives in London.

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