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# REVIEW: The Brightonians by  Darren Kay
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/review-the-brightonians-by-darren-kay/
- Published: 2021-10-31T11:11:07.000Z
- Updated: 2021-10-28T11:12:16.000Z
- Description: It’s a fun read, with a narrative momentum which whisks you along like the Volks railway, although unlike that ancient locomotive this book takes you somewhere interesting, a rather fabulous fantastical Brighton, not quite the same, but oddly familiar.
- Author: Eric Page
- Tags: Arts, Books, News, Reviews, book review, Brighton

**The Brightonians**

**Darren Kay**

Opening with a death is always a wonderful start to any novel, particularly one which eponymously calls to mind the lives of the denizens of this Twisted Gilded Ghetto by the sea. Author Kay serves up a delicious book, full of entitled social wrestling, secret histories, blossoming love, elderly drag queens, polysexual Queerness in all its forms and a geographical love for Brighton which showcases the city itself as a major character. The plot is a fun exploration of the way that events can hugely impact long after they’ve been secretly hidden from sight, and the way that truth often finds a way to shine, bringing not shame but glory in a different, more understanding age and flattering light. I’ll not go into any more detail to avoid spoiling it’s finely constructed and rather teasy disclosures, but I enjoyed the narrative tension and the amusing, believable twists.

[![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/daren-seagull-1600.png)](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/home/)

It’s a fun read, with a narrative momentum which whisks you along like the Volks railway, although unlike that ancient locomotive this book takes you somewhere interesting, a rather fabulous fantastical Brighton, not quite the same, but oddly familiar. For those of us who call this City home it’s a lovely read, with much to delight, for the others who love the City but have yet to make it safely to its glittery shores it’s a wonderfully evocative social comedy, full of charm, a touch of savagery, much sauciness and just the right about of arch waspishness, exactly what one wants from a new ‘find’.

Kay produces a book which lives love, and is inclusive and has a careful, subtle handling of age and Queerness, like your first weekend in Brighton, it captures your heart. The characters entertain, engage and ooze charisma as their interlocking intersecting stories unfold. I enjoyed meeting this crowd of fun folk and the gossipy, very Gay worlds they live in, it felt very real and written with heart.

Rather charmingly it finishes on a wonderfully climatic denouement, setting up the next book perfectly and leaving you with a warm smile, knowing there’s more gorgeous wittiness to come.

**Paperback: Out now £8:99**

Buy, Order or learn more from the [**authors website https://darenkay.com/**](https://darenkay.com/?ref=scenemag.co.uk)