Giovanni's Room

David, a young American in 1950s Paris, is waiting for his fiancée to return from vacation in Spain. But when he meets Giovanni, a handsome Italian barman, the two men are drawn into an intense affair. After three months David's fiancée returns and, denying his sexuality, he rejects Giovanni for a 'safe' future as a married man ― a decision that will bring tragedy, longing and regret.

Review

Extraordinarily exact and complex emotional intimacy . . . At the core of the novel lies Baldwin’s recognition that with a denial of suffering and pain as a means of happiness, there can be no feeling, understanding, or real connection in life ― Guardian

Today, when a great many arguments and complaints from the queer quarters of the political sphere have to do with what has been done to queerness by the patriarchy and by whiteness, Baldwin asks, in Giovanni’s Room, what love looks like, ultimately, when we leave all those bags at the door ― and if we can. Do we know how to live in a purely queer world not defined by resistance or self-hatred?’ -- Hilton Als ― New York Times Style Magazine

The whole novel is a kind of anatomy of shame, of its roots and the myths that perpetuate it, of the damage it can do. -- Garth Greenwell ― Guardian

The simple story of love is filled with ambiguity, difficulty, and paradox -- Colm Tóibín ― The New Yorker

It has a level of angst and heartbreak I am yet to find anywhere else -- Troye Sivan ― Vogue

A mesmerizing book -- Chris Abani ― NPR

If Van Gogh was our 19th-century artist-saint, James Baldwin is our 20th-century one -- Michael Ondaatje

Baldwin writes of these matters with unusual candour and yet with such dignity and intensity ― The New York Times

Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous -- Caryl Phillips

Baldwin, in this novel, made clear that he could work wonders with the light and shade of intimacy -- Colm Tóibín ― The New Yorker

About the Author

Born in Harlem in 1924, Baldwin had an early career as a teenage preacher. He lived in Paris from 1948-1956 and his first novels, the autobiographical GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN and GIOVANNI'S ROOM established him as a promising novelist and anticipated some of the themes of his later works, such as racism and sexuality. He became a prominent spokesperson for racial equality, especially during the civil rights movement. He lived in France during his last years. Baldwin died in 1987.