It's the summer of 1967 and the Sexual Offences Act has just decriminalized consensual gay sex in private between two men over twenty-one. Percy Wright and his friend Les Baker have both taken temporary jobs teaching English as a foreign language in London during their long summer break from teaching at a rural boarding school near Oxford. Percy is keen to soak up some theatre, music, and general culture, whilst Les is also keen to experience the varied gay social scene. When Les picks up a man called Phil at the box office of the Albert Hall when he goes to buy tickets to a Promenade Concert, Percy inadvertently gets thrown together with Adrian Framlingham, Phil’s friend. Adrian is all the things Percy likes in a man -- funny, kind and steady. When Les gets hurt, Percy turns to Adrian for support, but as the end of the summer looms it seems as if their affair will come to a natural end. What will happen when Percy goes back to his everyday life as a house-master? Will he and Adrian stay in touch? Does he even want a long-distance relationship when arranging to meet someone for sex is still illegal, even if the act itself is not? Trigger warning: A secondary character suffers an off-screen sexual assault.

Eight Acts

“Honestly, it’s a pleasure,” Adrian said, jamming the box of books he was carrying beside the suitcases. “And I get to nose around your school, too.”


“Yes. We just need to hang on a minute for Jackie. I told her eleven, she’ll be here to check things over and give me the deposit back in a minute or two.”


“Yes, while you were bringing down the things from the kitchen cupboard. I wiped it out as well.” He smirked at Adrian.


“I doubt you’ll have trouble with your deposit, will you?”


“Shouldn’t think so. She was really straightforward when we signed the contr  . Six weeks, money up front, deposit returned at the end.”


Chapter 21