Tales of the Suburbs

Secretly gay school bullies. Punks with make-up tips. Heroic hairdressers. Queer parents. Suburban pride marches. Police hassle.
With nods of recognition and unexpected flirtations, chosen families and desperate escapes, this is a new way of seeing suburbia: a place where things aren't always as straightforward - or straight - as they seem.
'Breaks new ground' - David Kynaston
'Grindrod is one of the best chroniclers of British life' - Jude Rogers
Throughout LGBTQ+ history, suburbia has been seen as somewhere to escape from: a place where heterosexuality rules; where difference will not be tolerated; where you'll never find a soulmate. But for many, those streets of twitching curtains and pebble-dashed semis were - or still are - a place to call home.
From Addlestone to Wilmslow, Tales of the Suburbs explores the relatively untold twentieth century tale of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer people in small towns and suburbia. Through remarkable archive material and original interviews, social historian John Grindrod reveals stories that are messy and moving, dark and funny, uplifting and extraordinary. Together, they reclaim suburbia as a space for all - or those that want it - where counter-cultural expression thrives despite the Neighbourhood Watch, and queer love and friendship bloom against the odds.

John Grindrod is a social historian of modern places. He's the author of Iconicon: A Journey Around the Landmark Buildings of Contemporary Britain (2022), Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt (shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize, 2017) and Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain (2013). He hosts the podcast Monstrosities Mon Amour, about loving the places other people hate. johngrindrod.co.uk