This was such a fascinating and thought-provoking read. As a younger queer person, I appreciated the insight into what the LGBTQ community was like in the late twentieth century and how much has changed since then.

“Words can be weapons, but they also help to give meaning to barely formed feelings, and I gradually learned through words my desires had a name, many names, which said something about me, what I was and could be.”

As a queer person, I’m surprised that I hadn’t heard of Jeffrey Weeks until this memoir. “Between Worlds” is not just an account of the activist’s remarkable life through some of the most socially radical and turbulent times for LGBTQ people—it’s a kind of time capsule as well, telegraphing moments in history for an audience that (like myself) might know little about the forerunning movements and battles and tragedies and victories that made today’s circumstances possible. Though I live in the U.S. and had a hard time grasping some of the political/geographical nuances and in-language of the earliest chapters (in which Weeks describes his childhood), I was drawn quickly to his renditions of his mother (and his excessive attachment to her) as well as some of the painful, coded gay experiences that were formative in his acceptance of his sexual identity.

There are beautiful and thought-provoking speculations on why we are queer—and the nature of the question itself—with insights from a chorus of contemporary gay activists. There are illuminating sections about pre-digital queer life in a city like London, and the coiled pathways leading into and revealing the omnipresence of queer spaces (at tube stations, theaters, music halls, squares, Turkish baths, etc.) roiling underneath the warp and weft of "everyday" reality. There is detailing of illness and death, scathing critique of Thatcher’s silence on HIV/AIDS (echoing, for American readers, Reagan’s own deplorable reticence), and how all these things intersected in very palpable, visceral, and personal ways for Weeks and other queer individuals in the '80s and '90s.

I’m excited to delve more into his other writings, and return to this memoir with more clarity/context of his greater body of work!

Thank you Parthian and NetGalley for gifting this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Prior to reading Between Worlds by Jeffrey Weeks I was knowledgeable about his work as an activist, as well as his specialization on sexuality and how it pertained to sociology. I would highly recommend Between Worlds to anyone looking to explore a memoir depicting the realities of being LGBTQ+. Society has come a long way in terms of social acceptance, but still has a long way to go in working towards establishing and maintaining equal rights.

Between Worlds will release 1 April 2021.

I have admired Weeks for a while, being as he was one of the first queer historians I read, and was an absolute lifesaver while writing university essays (he’s great for a good quote about queer history or about queer identities).

In this book, he turns the lens on himself, and takes us through the fascinating times and locations that created him, from being a young sensitive and nerdy child in the Welsh valleys, to being heavily involved in the early days of queer activism in London.

These parts of the book are some of the most powerful- Weeks captures the energy, spirit and characters of both, and really creates a vision of a time that was hung in the balance, and was so pivotal to his life and those of many others.

He then moves on to his life as a historian, watching, documenting and writing about the UK (and wider world) as it goes through some significant turning points, especially for LGBTQ+ people (the first pride parades, the AIDS crisis, Thatcher, Section 28, equality legislation).

It occasionally veers a little into digressions about university life, but Weeks is at his best when he describes the unimaginable transformations in queer life and acceptance he has witnessed throughout his life, and his role as a historian and archivist means he observes them with brilliant insight and tenderness.

The moments where he connects the wider national picture with his personal life- in which he watches partners fall ill and pass away, and explores different relationship types- are really quite special. You realize just how much of the last few decades he has seen go by, and just how far we have all come.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book both for its references to the attitude of people of the Rhondda Valleys in the 70s and for Weeks' first hand experience of the LGBT+ struggle.It was funny, sad and extremely enlightening and I would recommend this memoir to everyone as we all need a deeper understanding of each other.
Thank you Netgalley and Parthian for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion and diolch yn fawr Jeffrey.