Beautiful, fascinating, unique ... these are all words that occurred to me when I first heard about this book, and I reaffirm them now that I've read it. It more than lived up to my expectations.
Tony's an old friend. When I was last in Melbourne a few years ago (pre-COVID) we met for lunch, and he told me his ideas for this book. I loved the sound of those ideas, so I was excited to find out it has been published. In fact I lost track of time, and only thought to enquire this year – to discover that UWAP (University of Western Australia Publishing) produced it as a paperback in July 2020.
I don't think I can describe it any better than the two distinguished poets who wrote the cover blurb so I'll just quote them:
'Anh and Lucien is a compelling celebration of male desire and intimacy - and also a gripping clash of cultures and ideologies. Danger and death pervade Tony Page's sensuous and sensitive evocation of a risky love affair in an alluring, unsettled place and time, Indochina 1940. Intrigue and art, passion and espionage interweave to drive and doom the relationship between Anh, a young revolutionary, and Lucien, a disaffected French bureaucrat. Page skilfully deploys alternating dramatic monologues to increase the tension as loyalty and betrayal merge towards Lucien's final sacrifice.' -- Jan Owen
'The story of desire between two men is told with exquisite beauty and restraint using prose poems, epistolary poems, found poems and documentary poems to build from suspense a tragedy that is also a victory for humanity over small-mindedness and oppression.' -- Jennifer Harrison
Having been involved in the anti-Vietnam War protests of the late sixties, I thought I knew a bit about Vietnamese history. Now I understand rather more. Tony has obviously done his research, and presents this background in a way that involves the real lives of everyday people.
I'll be re-reading / re-exploring this lovely book.
It might be hard to get hold of by now (it's a shame that UWAP didn't run to an ebook version) but try eBay; it's listed there.
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