Genre: Historical, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Whiskey November
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About The Book
Hylas has come to Tykanos to build an aqueduct. He has not come to enjoy the island’s main attraction: the six houses where the companions of Tykanos, courtesans both female and male, offer tea and elegant conversation. Yet he cannot ignore them as he finds himself renting a room in one of the tea houses and meeting his neighbour, the beautiful, chronically ill companion Zo.
Over breakfasts in Zo’s garden, the two men begin a friendship that transforms the isolation of their lives. But Hylas’s aqueduct project is threatened by bureaucratic delays, and Zo is pressured to secure a rich patron to help support his failing house. When they have begun to hope that they have found a home in each other, the world seems intent on forcing them apart.
The Review
I was delighted to snag a review copy of The House of the Red Balconies, since I’ve enjoyed everything else I’ve read by A.J. Demas (which is, actually, all of her books). This one sits in the same Ancient Mediterranean world and is a standalone, though I believe I detected some links to her other titles. Readers should be aware that this world encompasses forms of slavery.
The main characters are Hylas, an 40-year-old engineer, and Zo, a much younger courtesan. They meet at the engineer’s new lodgings, which happen to be in a teahouse where the younger man lives and works. The ‘companions’ (courtesans) in the teahouses are much closer to geisha than to stereotypical prostitutes; these entertainers employ musical, literary, artistic, and conversational talents.
Both Hy;as and Zo have secrets in their pasts. Hylas’s history informs his self-image and low-key identity crisis, but does not bear on the plot in a substantive way. Zo’s history is key to a plot twist which raises the stakes considerably.
I would have liked to see more of the engineering work on the page. It relates to water-supply infrastructure, and I’ve always been fascinated by pre-modern technology.
Hylas’s gradual growth of confidence, both in his work and in his relationships, occurs almost without him noticing. He engages with people more energetically toward the end of the story.
The tropes here are age gap, virgin hero, forced proximity, hurt/comfort, and forbidden love. The slow development of the relationship is both logical and lovely. A few modern words felt awkward, but for the most part this book lives neatly in its alt-historical setting. Highly recommended for all who enjoy historical romance.
The Reviewer
Whiskey is an urban professional with close family & friendship ties to the LGBTQ+ community. She supports the work of GLAAD, Broadway Cares, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, among others. She reads in excess of 250 books a year (romance, mystery, science fiction, history, and memoir) and is a self-published writer of contemporary and historical romance.