This Brutal House

By Niven Govinden Set across the arc of an active protest and the lives behind it – a group of silent Mothers, and one of their charges now working for the city – This Brutal House explores a group’s resilience, trauma, and determination to hold truth to power. Shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2019 Publication Date: August 1, 2023 Paperback: 9781646052677 eBook: 9781646052882 Description On the steps of New York's City Hall, five ageing Mothers sit in silent protest. They are the guardians of the Ballroom community - queer people who opened their hearts and homes to countless lost children, providing safe spaces for them to explore their true selves. Through epochs of city nightlife, from draconian to liberal, the children have been going missing, their absences ignored by the authorities and uninvestigated by the police. In a final act of dissent the Mothers have come to pray: to expose their personal struggle and commemorate their loss until justice is ser