The Duplex

The Duplex follows the lives of four gay friends and lovers living in Los Angeles in the 1950s, They deal with so much while just trying to live life.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm sick. I must be. Even the Psychiatric Association says so. These are doctors. Trained professionals, after all."

The book is written in a way you understand each individuals life personally because they each tell their story in first person. I loved the way it was written and I learned so much about how much things have changed and stayed the same for the LGBTQ community. A very fun, fast paced and entertaining read. I loved the characters and their humor and energy.

Fun and charming, The Duplex was a short read set in the 1950's and tackles on the story of a band of friends as they deal with societal issues and struggle to start anew. Things don't go their way and they soon learn that every action has a consequence. Wonderfully and vividly written Stevens explains bigotry and oppression towards their readers.

The Duplex tells the stories of four gay lovers and friends living in LA in the 1950s. Dot, Cliff, Barbara, and Jerry hatch a plan to fool the outside world, and move together into the duplex.

The book grabbed my attention, and was a quick and engaging read. I finished the book in less than 24 hours. These characters felt so real to me. I could imagine the struggles and heartache they were experiencing living in a world that did not accept them. It shocked me how different things were for those in the LGBT community during that time period, and yet how many things haven’t changed all that much.

This book was a pleasant surprise, and I look forward to reading more from Lucky Stevens in the future.

Publishers Synopsis:

Los Angeles, 1956. Shangri-La. Palm trees, swimming pools, movie stars. And if you’re gay–persecution. In a society that demands conformity and lockstep conventionality, gay people find out quickly and the hard way, how difficult, dangerous and downright terrifying it is to be different.

So, when the constant fear of arrests, evictions, job loss and ridicule become too much, four gay friends and lovers pull together to hatch an ingenious scheme designed to allow them to live freely, without harassment.

But their secret plan is not without its flaws. Internal struggles and personality conflicts conspire to make their situation harder and more life-altering than any of them could have predicted, leading to valuable and universal lessons about the high cost of blending in–or not.

Review:

What a wild ride! Firstly, I have no idea if the laws relating to homosexuality in the book were actually real. I want to do some research but I sort of don’t in case it ruins the book (and honestly my life) but either way it wouldn’t affect the review. I’m sure if even untrue that the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of the characters in this book are certainly an extension of what it felt like to live life as a homosexual in the 1950’s. Lucky Stevens perfectly depicts the emotions of all four characters, enough to keep you glued to the pages and crying with them. This book was super different for me, and it was exactly what I needed, something completely different to the 5 books already on the go that had me super bored. Stevens jumps from each character to make chapters, so if you don’t like books with the story coming from, or jumping from, multiple characters, this isn’t for you. But I really love how it was written like each character was writing in their journal, and the reader is the journal. Each character had their own idiosyncrasies and ways that they spoke, totally true to their character, it just made me believe that they were real. Overall, I loved it. Books that tug on my heart strings always have be giving them good ratings. I wanted to give this 3.5 stars, but I don’t do half stars (yet).

Rated 4/5 Stars

I want to thank NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and author Lucky Stevens for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

What a poignant and enlightening (all at the same time) novel. As a lesbian, I was drawn into this idea. This was sadly the reality for those in the LGBTQIA+ community in the 50’s, and I imagine it still is for some now in 2020. You will be glued to the pages and won’t be able to put this down. I loved the different POVs that follow the four main characters as it really kept the story line moving. The author does a wonderful job of explaining the oppression and bigotry that comes up as well. Truly an awesome read!

Thank you to those named above for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this novel!

Well, this was very different from my usual choices - set in 1950s America, it concerns two gay couples and how they take lavender dating to a whole new level. The book is interesting as it expounds the difficulties encountered by gays in that era - how they could be prosecuted, how the police entrapped them using 'Hollywood Rejects', how prejudice against gays was probably only just exceeded by the prejudice against blacks.

It makes for an interesting read - the story holds firm, there is no preaching or proselytizing. And nothing to scare the horses if you aren't gay!

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: homophobia, racism

This book was FUN! If you're looking for books to add to your TBR for Pride month, this should definitely be on there. It was very engaging and made for a quick read. I was worried that it would be a confusing read since it is told from the perspective of four different people, but it was very easy to follow along. While some of the storyline was predictable at first, there were a few twists late in the book that I definitely didn't see coming.

I love a well written book with the major focus around gay characters, especially set in a time when being gay still wasn’t widely accepted. The storyline was somewhat predictable but does wrap up nicely. A great read during Pride month. Will recommend to some of my friends for sure.


Source: I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

this was a really enjoyable read, I enjoyed the topic and getting to know the characters. I look forward to more from the author.

Thank you to Waters and Baxter and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A lot of people born in the 1930’s and 1940’s thought that the 1950’s were America’s best years. This decade was a period of conformity. Men and women conformed to their assigned gender roles. A stereotypical family was made up of a father, mother and 2.5 children. Men were the breadwinners and most women stayed home to tend to the house and children. Girls were to be nice and boys need to be strong. So, imagine how hard it would to be in a same-sex relationship in a time when it was not accepted. That was the challenge for the characters in this book …to appear “normal” but live their lives as they wished (in private). Going out to bars to meet people could result in arrests, losing their careers and homes, which would have been terrifying.

So the idea of The Duplex was born.

On the right side of the duplex, Cliff, a witty, role with the punches and live life to the fullest /life of the party type was to be “married” to Dot a school teacher whose mother was constantly asking her about marriage. Their respective partners were to occupy the left side of the duplex. Jerry was an attorney originally from a small town and an overthinker that came up with the idea of the duplex and was to be “married” to Barbara a tough and detailed woman and an attorney who admired a father that taught her to think for herself, but had not accepted her sexuality. Each chapter is from the POV of ones of these characters which offers insight to their past and their current thoughts as the struggle through what they want vs what is “normal”

Although the duplex was possibly their best option, the scheme doesn’t come without it’s own struggles. There were a lot questions the characters had and situations, that likely, arose in that time period.
Topics touched upon were racism, homosexuality as an illness, whether homosexuals should be parents and how, gay marriage and also the prejudices within of the gay community of conservative gays vs. flamboyant gays and so many more.

I thought this book was a great read. I loved the banter between the friends. The book was sad from the perspective of how things were in the 50’s, but something that should not be forgotten. I enjoyed the journey of each of the characters and their personal POVs resulting in a satisfying ending

This is a great book which shows what being gay was like in the 1950s.
This book is wonderfully written and is a good short read.