Love, Leda

This is the imagination of the margins, which makes it all the more resilient and remarkable, sustained despite disregard and contempt from mainstream society. Read today, when our world seems to be sliding frighteningly closer to the one Hyatt was writing from, his work provides a kind of solace.

A fascinating working-class queer literary voice

A fascinating snapshot of gay London life from that period in the time leading up to the Sexual Offences Act of 1967… It’s extremely touching reading such insights from a man so frankly discussing his queer experience from decades in the past and it’s wonderful being immersed in this bygone urban landscape of Lyons’ tea shops.

A long forgotten manuscript, Love, Leda by Mark Hyatt, has finally been published 50 years after his death. As an important historical record of homosexuality in the UK when it was still illegal, it’s something to treasure.

An evocative, often powerful time capsule of a clandestine subculture.

While it is not a feel-good story, it is a frank, if somewhat stark, exploration of the prejudices and challenges faced by gay men in the 60s and how, even in the midst of that, there are covert delights as Leda moves through London with the deft movements of a secret agent, undercover but in plain sight.

Depressing, hopeful, witty and truly a work of art. . . Love, Leda is an intensely introspective, deep dive into the gay scene of 1960s London. Captivating in its singularity, this book showcases human loneliness as our most shared experience.