Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains

Secretly gay school bullies. Punks with make-up tips. Heroic hairdressers. Queer parents. Suburban pride marches. Police hassle.

With nods of recognition and unexpected flirtations, chosen families and desperate escapes, this is a new way of seeing suburbia: a place where things aren’t always as straightforward – or straight – as they seem.

‘Breaks new ground’ – David Kynaston

‘Grindrod is one of the best chroniclers of British life’ – Jude Rogers

‘[A] fantastically entertaining alternative history of queer life in Britain . . . Tales of the Suburbs is ultimately about what it means to call somewhere home’ – Guardian

Throughout LGBTQ+ history, suburbia has been seen as somewhere to escape from: a place where heterosexuality rules; where difference will not be tolerated; where you’ll never find a soulmate. But for many, those streets of twitching curtains and pebble-dashed semis were – or still are – a place to call home.

From Addlestone to Wilmslow, Tales of the Suburbs explores the relatively untold twentieth century tale of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer people in small towns and suburbia. Through remarkable archive material and original interviews, social historian John Grindrod reveals stories that are messy and moving, dark and funny, uplifting and extraordinary. Together, they reclaim suburbia as a space for all – or those that want it – where counter-cultural expression thrives despite the Neighbourhood Watch, and queer love and friendship bloom against the odds.