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Overview: Martyn Goff (1923 – 2015) was the son of a Russian fur dealer who had emigrated to London and established himself with great success. As a youth, Goff read prodigiously, and at 19 he was offered a place at Oxford to read English, but he joined the RAF and served in the Second World War instead. After the war, at age 22, Goff decided to become a bookseller: in 1946, he opened his first shop and before long opened others.
Genre: Fiction > British Literature > Classics > Lgbtq+ > Gay
The Plaster Fabric (1957)
When Martyn Goff’s daring first novel, The Plaster Fabric, was published in 1957, homosexuality was illegal in Great Britain and both Goff and his publisher risked prosecution for the book’s frank treatment of gay themes. Laurence "Laurie" Kingston, a former Air Force pilot now working as a bookseller and artist, is a man with a secret. Born gay, Laurie has spun a web of lies to conceal his homosexuality, which, if discovered, could cost him his job, his friends, and even his freedom. After a chance encounter one foggy night with Tom Beeson, a rugged soldier, Laurie finds himself falling in love. But the situation becomes complicated when Laurie’s best friend, Susan, also falls for Tom. When Laurie becomes involved in this complicated triangle, he runs the risk of losing everything as the fabric of his carefully constructed life begins to chip away like flakes of plaster …
The Youngest Director (1961)
At 32, Leonard Bissel seems to have everything going for him: newly appointed as the youngest director of a major London corporation, he has a posh house in Chelsea, a shiny black MG, and a promising new relationship. There’s just one problem: Leonard’s boss and his family expect him to marry, not knowing that he is secretly gay and wants nothing more than to settle down in a stable relationship with his partner, John. As Leonard’s employer and his parents increase the pressure on him to marry, he will be faced with an impossible decision: is he willing to give up his job, his family, his home, and everything he’s worked for in order to remain true to his own identity and the person he loves?
Published in 1961, when homosexuality was still illegal in England, Martyn Goff’s The Youngest Director is a landmark of British gay fiction. A gripping story exposing the injustice and prejudice faced by gay men in the mid-20th century, Goff’s novel remains highly topical today as gay rights and the struggle for marriage equality continue to dominate the headlines. This edition, the first in 30 years, includes a new introduction by Martin Dines and an afterword by the author.
Indecent Assault (1967)
David Coulsdon, an art student, is astonished when his parents finally give him permission to live away from home, allowing him to move in with his gay uncle Julian and his partner, a flamboyant young actor. David’s father, Mark, is a cabinet minister with ambitions to become Prime Minister and wants David to keep an eye on Julian to ensure he doesn’t do anything scandalous that might harm his political career. His fears prove only too well founded: Julian is arrested and charged with an unthinkable crime, and David is forced to struggle between his loyalty to his father and his friendship for his uncle as he tries to uncover the truth behind the allegations. But the answers he finds are more shocking than he could ever have imagined, and the consequences may prove devastating to them all . . .
First published in 1967, the year homosexuality was decriminalized in Great Britain, Martyn Goff’s Indecent Assault is both a compulsively readable political thriller and a fascinating look at gay men and society’s attitudes towards them at a pivotal moment in history. This new edition is the first since 1969 and joins Goff’s gay classics The Plaster Fabric (1957) and The Youngest Director (1961), also published by Valancourt.
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