Objects of Desire by Neil Blackmore - ISBN: 9781804947821
Paperback
Fame. Fortune. Fraud. How far will a celebrated author go for his next masterpiece?
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Objects of Desire

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  • Paperback

    368 pages

  • Release Date

    25 August 2026

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Summary

Hugo Hunter was the most celebrated gay novelist of the 20th century. He published two masterpieces, securing his place alongside the dazzling literary greats of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and rubbing shoulders with everyone from Truman Capote to James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and George Orwell.

But after decades of fame and excess, just as New York City enters the 1980s and awakes to the coming horror of AIDS, Hugo finds himself running out of money. Out of nowhere, he receives an extraordin…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781804947821
ISBN-10:1804947822
Author:Neil Blackmore
Publisher:Cornerstone
Imprint:Penguin
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:368
Release Date:25 August 2026
Weight:252g
Dimensions:198mm x 130mm x 25mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

I adored this novel. It is razor-sharp and deeply unsettling while being endlessly entertaining. A triumph. – Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS
A delicious, literary feast. A wickedly funny and sharply relevant novel of duplicity and betrayal with a glittering cast of literary greats. – Anna Mazzola
A masterful novel, Objects of Desire is utterly irresistible; it’s dark and wickedly fun. One of my favourite books of the year so far. – Flora Carr
Blackmore writes with rich intensity, he never fails to excite the senses. – AJ West
Objects of Desire is an absolute gem. It is dark, funny and iconoclastic … A must-read for anyone who loves books, complete with a moral for wannabe writers: perhaps the only thing worse than failure is success. – Antonia Senior * The Times *
This masterful novel is a biting, unflinching study of art and deceit – and of what it means to create, to love and, indeed, to live. In this story, which recreates with vicious wit the 20th-century literary scene, Neil Blackmore has achieved his best work yet. – Annie Garthwaite
A blisteringly sharp, edgy, and diabolical romp through the gay literary scene of the mid-twentieth century, OBJECTS OF DESIRE pulls no punches in its portrayal of cultural darlings, nor in its dark insights into the human heart. Hugo Hunter is one of the best antiheroes I’ve read in ages, as mercenary as Tom Ripley and as seductive as Dorian Gray. Blackmore’s settings - whether it be postwar London, 1960s Hollywood or AIDS-era New York - are so fully realized that I often found myself losing my grip on where real history ended and the fiction began. This book is a true tour de force - I’m so very glad it exists, although in solidarity with its protagonist, I can’t help but be deeply jealous that I didn’t write it. – Hesse Phillips
Objects of Desire’s big soundtrack is all betrayal, plot twists and rivalry – but its power lies in Blackmore’s quiet glimpses of grief and the destructive, deep sadness of shame – Anthony Shapland, author of A Room Above a Shop
A vicious, gossipy delight – fans of Yellowface and The Plot will relish this savage, poignant story of lies, identity and ambition. – Francesca De Tores

About The Author

Neil Blackmore

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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