In England, during the Regency period, sodomy is still officially punishable by death, but London is very gay indeed. Wealthy gay men enjoy luxurious private clubs; the middle-class do their best to dodge raids and find companionship in pubs, private houses, and parks throughout the city; and the poor, as always, do whatever it takes to get by.
Jack Marshall is a small business owner, a London smuggler, and a sometimes drag queen who once seduced and secretly married a young male aristocrat. In the Year Without A Summer, a massive famine sweeps Europe. With his wife dead and his infant son's life hanging in the balance, Jack is forced to return to his wealthy ex-husband to beg for charity.
Theodore Hewes expects to spend his life insulated from the day-to-adversities suffered by gay men of lower rank. He only needs to hide his sexual proclivities from his suspicious family until he can inherit the vast estate that he is heir to, and then he can live a life of relative personal freedom. But when Jack Marshall careens back into his life, Theodore's conservative plan is upended, and he finds himself dragged into fatherhood, foolhardy love, and mortal danger.
What readers have been saying about Molly House:
"breathtaking story . . . [a] labor of love and careful research"
"This story was an adventure of the best kind. . .. It's breathtaking how life-threatening events, tragedy, romance, lightheartedness, joy, and love live side by side here. Nothing gets sugarcoated or ignored or broken down into easier digestible pieces . . . And heck, even the animals have character."
". . . a wild ride . . .I have laughed, cried, bitten my nails and felt so much love in ways hard to explain . . ."
"I really like how you handled all the nuances that come with the intersection of gay discrimination and being rich (or not). There are a lot of nuances about queerness, family of choice, wealth, gender and non-monogamy interwoven in the story and yet you write it so naturally that it feels effortless."
"I did not expect an orgy in a molly house to be this beautiful and emotionally devastating."