The Spell – Alan Hollinghurst

When the deus ex machina turns out to be a pill-popping bodybuilder called Lars, it’s a fair bet that you’re reading a Hollinghurst.

As with The Line of Beauty and The Swimming Pool Library, both of which I loved, The Spell details the hyperactive love lives of a group of middle class gay men. The plot is structured around a series of oppositions – old/young, country/city, E/alcohol – but Hollinghurst never chooses the obvious options and keeps the reader interested. He also remains one of the best line-by-line prose writers around, making The Spell a very satisfying read indeed.