Von Reinhold’s send-up of predominantly posh, White institutions is one of the best features of the book. The residency is a brilliant satire of academic bullshit, with Mathilda forced to sit through mind-bogglingly dull, jargon-filled conversations about ‘Markation’ and ‘Dotage levels’. They are an almost unbearable contrast to the luxury-loving Mathilda. Mathilda’s fellow residents turn out to be fanatical adherents to Thought Art–an obscure strand of theory centered around minimalism, discipline and self-effacement. Mathilda is immediately Transfixed and becomes determined to learn all about her.Īfter discovering that Hermia spent some time in a small European town, Mathilda applies to an artists’ residency there–winging the application and phone interview without knowing anything about the programme–and is soon travelling overseas to continue her detective work. But what is even more exciting is the young Black woman posing with him, dressed as an angel: a forgotten Scottish modernist poet called Hermia Drumm. While volunteering in the archives of the National Portrait Gallery, Mathilda is delighted to discover a new photograph of Stephen Tennant. As a narrator, she’s wonderfully fun to spend time with.

This isn’t without its problems–Mathilda explains that “People rarely allow for Blackness and caprice (be it in dress or deportment) to coexist without the designation of Madness”–and she’s certainly capricious. In order to emulate her Transfixions, she has constantly reinvented her identity over the years in a series of ‘Escapes’, transforming into an ever-more dramatic version of herself. Like Mathilda, most of these figures are queer and many are Black.

She experiences what she calls ‘Transfixions’–intense emotional and sensory connections to historical figures that can be strong enough to leave her in a giddy daze. The narrator of LOTE, Mathilda Adamarola, is also fascinated by Tennant and his friends. He was–in the words of writer Lady Caroline Blackwood – “just an eccentric gay who didn’t really do anything”. After tearing through a number of biographies, my favourite figure became Stephen Tennant. His pictures capture the dazzling, decadent world of these young British socialites of the interwar period–their fabulous costume parties, heavy drinking, artistic flair, and taste for excess. I first discovered the Bright Young Things at an exhibition of Cecile Beaton’s photography.

Shola von reinhold