Hello, welcome to Ask Penguin, the podcast series from Penguin Books. I'm Rihanna Dillon, and every episode I get to meet different authors to talk about their work, along with putting our listener questions to some of the experts working here at Penguin. I probably like you, have always been a reading obsessive. There wasn't a day when I wouldn't be reading.

Hangleton Library and Hove was like my mecca. It was where I made so many of my greatest book discoveries,

although I was always quite gutted about the six book limit. So to be let loose at Penguin is honestly my dream gig.

And if you look back through our archive, you'll see that we've already covered a whole range of literary topics, from romance novels to winter reads, to historical

fiction. And today, we're getting to a subject that I'm really looking forward to covering

queer literature. So of course, LGBTQ plus writers have been telling stories forever,

although historically these stories have often been marginalised.

But in recent decades, the diversity and complexity of queer books available

has expanded enormously.

And what I especially love is how queer fiction can give us insights and

offerings on alternative or overlooked perspectives on our shared history. With all that in mind,

I am delighted to introduce writer, critic and curator Charlie Porter, who's joining me today

to discuss his unmissable first novel, Nova Scotia House.

It's a deeply emotional, intimate account of the AIDS crisis and its aftermath.

Told through the mind and memories of Johnny Grant

and set between contemporary times in the early 90s,

it's both a love story and a lament taking readers to the heart of a relationship,

a community and an era.

Charlie, thank you so much for being in the studio with us today.

Oh my God, thank you. Thank you for having me.

And congratulations on the book.

Thank you. It's gorgeous.

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