New book Husbands – part thriller, part romance – from Birmingham author Mo Fanning, an emerging voice in contemporary fiction will launch this Pride month on 6th June).
Perfect for fans of Jane Fallon, Marian Keyes, Beth O’Leary and Taylor Jenkins Reid, Mo Fanning writes deep character-driven stories that entertain and make readers think. Husbands also shares a lot of similarities with Richard Gadd’s Netflix smash, Baby Reindeer. Mo believes it’s important to take a dark topic like sexual abuse and exploitation but deliver it to audiences as a ‘comedy’:
Baby Reindeer is still in Netflix’s Top Ten most-watched list, with over 18 million views globally. But while a lot of discussion has focused on the true identity of Richard Gadd’s stalker, ‘Martha’, the TV programme explores a much more important talking point: male sexual exploitation and abuse.
Author Mo Fanning, an emerging voice in contemporary fiction, explores similar themes in his new novel Husbands. And, in a similar way to Gadd, Fanning wants to redefine LGBTQ romantic comedy by creating stories that just so happen to contain ‘queer’ characters. His comedic fiction is inspired by life’s rich tapestry, delving into darker themes drawn from his own experience including alcoholism, mental illness and prejudice.
Husbands covers toxic masculinity, sexual exploitation, murder and abuse – the dark underbelly and power dynamics of Hollywood. As part of his research, Mo talked off the record to young male actors and models who gave harrowing accounts of being forced into doing things they didn’t want to do.
But like Baby Reindeer, Husbands is funny and a clarion call for discussion. By setting these stories against a dark romantic comedy backdrop, Mo (and Richard Gadd) make them accessible to a wider audience. They both weave tales that entertain while confronting readers with the uncomfortable realities hidden behind the camera’s flash.
Publisher’s Weekly have called Husbands “Brisk prose, sharp dialogue, and a strong sense of dark ironies.”
Mo grew up near Birmingham. Having lived in Manchester, Amsterdam, Lyon and Brighton, he’s now back in the West Midlands. Mo has contributed to 100 Stories for Haiti and written for the Observer travel section. His first novel The Armchair Bride was nominated for Arts Council Book of the Year, and his work was turned into a short play for BBC America. The follow-up, Rebuilding Alexandra Small, which featured in bestseller charts, and Ghosted have established Mo Fanning as a leading voice in LGBTQ romantic comedy novels.
Visit www.mofanning.co.uk for Mo’s blog, newsletter and all kinds of other nonsense. Instagram: @authormofanning/ X:@mofanning Facebook:@mofanningbooks www.youtube.com/@mofanning www.booktoot.club/@mofanning www.goodreads.com/author/show/2843792.Mo_Fanning
About the book:
A gripping, dark romantic comedy, Husbands is an entertaining and fast-paced peek into the not-so-bright lights of Hollywood.
Wannabe actor Kyle Macdonald is down on his luck. Working as a supply teacher in an inner-city Birmingham school, he’s single again at twenty-eight, and sleeping in his childhood bedroom beneath a ‘Hard Candy’ Madonna poster.
He gets a call claiming he drunkenly married top Hollywood director Aaron Biedermeier in Vegas six years ago. Rather than panic, he sees a golden ticket to fame and the life he’s always fantasised about.
But the glamourous veneer of Los Angeles – non-stop sunshine, celebrity actors and exclusive hotel suites – starts to crack, revealing a darker, corrupt underbelly to La-La Land. Kyle digs deeper into his so-called husband’s past, unearthing disturbing allegations of abuse and underage sex parties. With the help of Biedermeier’s fiancé, actor Noah Winters, he embarks on a cross-country race to unravel the mystery and expose the truth – finding love along the way.
