A Language of Limbs

A Language of Limbs by Dylan Hardcastle In A Language of Limbs, debut novelist Dylin Hardcastle delivers a stunningly original and emotionally resonant twist on the queer coming-of-age story—told through two parallel lives split by a single choice. Set against the vibrant backdrop of 1970s and '80s Australia, this novel is a poetic meditation on desire, community, and the roads not taken. Newcastle, 1972. On a stifling summer night, a teenage girl stands at a crossroads: to follow the pull of her queer desire or suppress it for the sake of safety and familiarity? In that moment, her story splits in two. In Limb One, she is caught kissing her neighbor and cast out of her home. On the run, she finds sanctuary and selfhood in Uranian House, a radical queer communal home in Sydney, where chosen family, first love, and protest shape her future. In Limb Two, she buries her feelings for her best friend, choosing instead a path of quiet ambition. She moves to Sydney to study English literature