Box Hill

A 2020 Spectator Book of the Year

A 2020 Spectator Book of the Year

'I took one look at him, and I saw what he really wanted.'

On the Sunday of his eighteenth birthday, in 1975, Colin takes a walk on Box Hill, a biker hang-out in Surrey. Timid, awkward, and very much out of his element, he accidentally trips over Ray, a biker taking a nap under a tree. Ray takes immediate control of the situation, and Colin moves in with him that night.

A sizzling, sometimes shocking, and strangely tragic love story between two men, Box Hill is a stunning novel of desire and domination by one of Britain's most accomplished writers.

'The biggest small book of the year.'
-The Guardian

'An exquisitely discomfiting tale of a submissive same-sex relationship ... perfectly realised.'
-Anthony Cummins, The Observer

'A tender exploration of the love that truly dare not speak its name - that between master and slave. On his 18th birthday, Colin literally stumbles upon a strapping biker twice his age, and falls into a long-term relationship characterised by devotion, mystery, and submission. In plain unadorned prose, Mars-Jones shows us the tender, everyday nature of this. Self-deprecating, sad, and wise.'
-Fiona McGregor