Review of Garth Greenwell's "What Belongs to You"

 

What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Is this the book Somerset Maugham would have written? This was the question I kept mulling over during the first section of this brief novel. We have a first person narrator who reports the story of his obsession with a male prostitute in Europe. So maybe.

For me the most interesting part of the novel was the middle session in which the narrator tells us what his younger sister reveals about their father. The odd paragraphing, however, was a problem. The writing is full of energy, and the imagery is strong throughout.

I have no idea whether Maugham would have written this novel about his gay life. But I suspect he would have admired this one.

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