My Only Boy

Ambitious brilliant exhilarating Custom-built for fans for The Thick of It, Succession and Industry, with a romance plot that could have been written by David Nicholls Johanna Thomas-Corr, Sunday TimesSmart, beautifully written, joyful and terrifying without doubt, Rankin-Gee's best work yet' Lucy Scholes, Prospect 'Thoughtful, challenging... Rankin-Gee explores the pull and push of queer desire turned unexpectedly heterosexual Marie Claire, Best Summer Reads of 2026'Sparkling prose the novel handles its subject matter with such tenderness that it made this extremely gay man believe that it might actually be possible to fall in love with someone of the opposite sex (no small feat)', Teo Van Den Broeke, Esquire The sensational new novel from the highly-acclaimed author of Dreamland: a once-in-a-lifetime love storyIt is Elles job to manage disasters.But lately things have started to spin out of control. At work, the latest catastrophe has been live-streamed to the nation. A shock election sees an extreme-right coalition storm to power. Then, on a night so hot it feels like Londons pavements are melting, she meets Ed. Elle and Ed are not meant to be drawn to each other. Elle has only ever been attracted to women, and Ed, billed as the great gay novelist of our times, is about to release his first book. But something inexplicable sparks between them. Can the unexpected attraction they feel last when it presents such a profound challenge to their identity? And as the country fractures and the heat rises, how will they choose between the people theyve known themselves to be and the people they are willing to become.Both an unforgettable love story and a state-of-the-nation thriller, My Only Boy asks universal questions about desire, complicity, and what happens when your sense of self collapses along with the world around you.Bleakly funny a surprising romance As I read My Only Boy, I kept having to remind myself that the nation it describes is not (yet) real, because the novels England seems unnervingly close to what might come next, Sarah Moss, The Guardian Ominously realistic a thumping, state-of-the-nation thriller with a complex romance at its heart', Cal Flyn, Five Books Must-Read Novels of Summer 2026Hell is round the corner in My Only Boy, its skilfully imagined near-future, far-right Britain all too believable. But what I admire most is the way its grand sweep is studded with small human moments: brilliantly noticed instances of the ways we want and yearn and love Chris Power, author of A Lonely Man'Only Rosa Rankin-Gee could write so wonderfully about the imminent implosion of everything we'd ever dreamed of, while two unlikely lovers find joy in a broken world. Golden' Justin Myers, author of The Glorious DeadCompletely original... this book charmed, provoked, and unsettled me in equal measure. Read it Maggie Millner, author of Couplets: A Love Story' I cant stop thinking about it Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party I devoured this book. Rosa Rankin-Gee is a master at creating near future worlds with a simmering political back drop, pierced through with laughs and a love story that feels at once epic and beautiful and also completely universal Kayleigh Llewellyn, Bafta Award-winning creator of In My SkinA moving, complex love story set in an all-too-plausible far-right future of intolerance, decline and precarity. Rankin-Gee has a fine ear for the dialogues of London and the humour that makes people fall in love, stay humane and make all the wrong (and right) decisions. Nuanced, alive, anxious, energetic, elegiac and thoughtful Paul Holden, author of The FraudRosa is hilarious and prescient, an incredible writer who's able to make your heart leap both with anxiety for our collective human future and anticipation for the possibilities of new love Nafkote Tamirat, author of The Parking Lot Attendant My Only Boy is utterly compelling; it is somehow impossible to put down. No-one else is writing quite like this - urgent, essential and against all odds, hopeful Laura Kay, author of Wild ThingsWith crackling prose, Rosa Rankin-Gee has crafted a novel that is both a cautionary tale about the rise of fascism, and a queer love story turned on its head. It will leave you asking: What would you do to save the ones you love? Buckle up for one hell of a ride Grace Flahive, author of Palm MeridianGripping, immersive and exquisitely written, My Only Boy is one of those books that will live with you long after youve turned the final page Indyana Schneider, author of 28 Questions'A terrifyingly poignant yet oddly heart-warming tale for our time. So richly layered I wanted to savour it, but I couldn't help but race greedily through. What a triumph!' Natasha Bell, author of This Nowhere Place