Review: A Man and His Pride by Luke Rutledge 📚

This was the prefect book to read on the way home from Sydney World Pride 2023. It has been a while since a book made me both laugh out loud and cry for the characters and for the things they represent. Luke Rutledge’s debut novel is set at the time of Australia’s Same Sex Marriage referendum. It skilfully weaves a tale of flawed deeply human people dealing with different sorts of trauma inflicted by many varieties of homophobia and self repression. It’s equally a story about how heteronormative expectations damage us all - queer or straight - but also about the gentle love of friendship can help us overcome and heal our hurts. Truly, love wins - just not always how you expect it will.