The Leather Boys

The first novel to offer an authentic portrayal of love between ordinary, working- class young men, Gillian Freeman’s The Leather Boys is a groundbreaking classic of gay fiction that remains moving and compelling today.

Outsider Classics is Dead Ink’s resurrection ground for the strange, the silenced, and the outcasts. This series exhumes lost literary voices that were ahead of their time to restore them to the cult status they always deserved. From forgotten masterpieces to once-censored provocations, each title is a reaction against the canon curated for readers who want to stray into the margins and away from the mainstream. 

Dick and Reggie are ‘leather boys’, working-class London teens with an affinity for leather jackets and motorcycles who become friends through their involvement in a gang. For Dick, the money he gets from the gang’s thefts helps to support his ailing grandmother; for Reggie, membership in the gang provides relief from an unhappy home life and a loveless marriage. When Reggie decides to leave his unfaithful wife and move in with Dick, the two soon discover their feelings for each other are much stronger than mere friendship. As they make plans for their future together, will they find the happiness they seek, or is their love doomed to end in tragedy? 

The first novel to offer an authentic portrayal of love between ordinary, working- class young men, Gillian Freeman’s The Leather Boys is a groundbreaking classic of gay fiction that remains moving and compelling today. Freeman’s novel and its 1964 film adaptation played a vital part in liberalizing British attitudes towards homosexuality. 

Contributor: Kaye Mitchell (Introduction by)

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