EXPOSURE
Helen Dunmore
Dunmore’s 2014 novel The Lie unfolded a delicate story of an attraction between two men, set against the backdrop of World War I and its aftermath. Exposure also has a gay relationship central to the narrative, but the setting this time is 1960s London.
Giles and Simon meet at Cambridge and have a clandestine affair. After university, Giles helps Simon secure a position at the Admiralty, but Simon moves on, putting this youthful dalliance aside decisively. He marries Lily, produces three children and settles into a comfortable suburban life, which is relatively uneventful. Giles turns to the bottle and a string of boys, but one evening, while tipsy, he suffers a fall at home and ends up in hospital. He is obliged to call on Simon for a favour − there is a top secret file in Giles’ attic study that has to be urgently returned to work.