The Boy In The Dress by @jonobutler
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A melding of memoir, military history, family history, queer history, true crime, THE BOY IN THE DRESS by @jonobutler was a great and compelling read. @jonobutler has been described as a gay detective & I can’t wait to see what he does next. I love this book, the content is challenging but it is a history I wished was taught in school.
As a gay man I hard related & have included a pic me & my sister in dress ups – though if it were now I would totally want her hat! I long for the day where homophobia and toxic masculinity are a thing of the past & people are fully free to express themselves.
A great read from an Australian debut author which I encourage you to read & support.
BLURB:
On a balmy Townsville night in 1944, a young serviceman, Warwick Meale, is found murdered. The army and police do not, or will not, conduct a proper investigation and history forgets the killer – until now. Nearly eighty years on, Warwick’s descendant Jonathan Butler dusts off the case and chases the leads that were there all along.
The Boy in the Dress exhumes secrets of life on the home front during World War II, where tensions between soldiers boiled over, new expressions of sexuality flourished and the threat of invasion catapulted the status quo into disarray.
The truth of this family legend, and this little-known chapter in Australian military history, is more complex and engrossing than anyone could have imagined.