In Hall’s hands, love may not conquer all, but it can conquer some—and this nuanced love story proves all the better for being so hard-won.
On the grim streets of London, a young man succumbs to his demons. Discarded by his lover and left penniless and alone, Michael “Micha” Dashwood uses sex to pay the bills and opium to numb the pain.
When a sudden illness strikes, all seems lost. But hope finds Micha in the shape of the Reverend Thomas Mandeville. Haunted by grief of his own, Thomas cannot bear to ignore another man’s plight. He brings the ailing Micha home to heal in his parish at Nettlefield.
As Micha recovers under Thomas’s care, he begins to realize that some people in this world areworthy of trust. Thomas, in turn, learns the truth of his own needs and desires. Between the secrets of the past and the burdens of the present, their future together seems impossible. Questions of faith and the shadow of opium continue to haunt them both.
Yet possibilities, like miracles, can be found wherever you look for them.
Please note: this is not intended to be exhaustive and may contain spoilers.
Sexual content (on page; graphic), opium addiction, opium withdrawal, sex work, violence during sex work, talk about someone dying by suicide (happens in the past), talk about an injury suffered to a horse (actual injury happens in the past), blackmail, queerphobia, crisis of faith.
Never After, while it does have a strong romance at its centre, is not a capital R romance as per genre convention.
Please note: this is not intended to be exhaustive and may contain spoilers.
Sexual content (on page; graphic), opium addiction, opium withdrawal, sex work, violence during sex work, talk about someone dying by suicide (happens in the past), talk about an injury suffered to a horse (actual injury happens in the past), blackmail, queerphobia, crisis of faith.
Never After, while it does have a strong romance at its centre, is not a capital R romance as per genre convention.
In Hall’s hands, love may not conquer all, but it can conquer some—and this nuanced love story proves all the better for being so hard-won.
for Never After