Tales of the Suburbs

LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains

John Grindrod

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780571382880
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: History

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

'[A] fantastically entertaining alternative history of queer life in Britain . . . Tales of the Suburbs is ultimately about what it means to call somewhere home' - Guardian

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.

Table of contents

• Landing Page
• Praise
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Let’s Take a Ride: An Introduction
• The Southbourne Identity
• Losing Control in Littleover
• Home Alone in Carshalton
• Changing Hairdressers in Wilmslow
• Love and Hate in Surbiton
• Neighbourhood Watch in Pensnett
• The Eyes of Bearsden
• Being Seen in Ruislip
• Avant Garde in Crawley
• The Trials of Thorngumbald
• Rough Landing in Worcester
• Polari on the Paper Round in Southsea
• The Woman Who Fell to Penge
• The New Malden Robot
• Escape from Edgware
• Between the World and New Addington
• Vapour Trails Over Croydon
• Running Away to Suburbiton
• The Other Lesbian in Prestwood
• Entangled in Snaresbrook
• The Middle Space of Pinhoe
• Croydon in Stages
• Today Torquay, Tomorrow the World
• Casual Violence in Addlestone
• Gaydar Girls in Milton Keynes
• The Hounds of Yarm
• An Accident in Bilton
• The Basingstoke Scream
• A Superhero for Chelmsford
• It’s Different in Gateshead
• Deep Water in Dulverton
• Acknowledgements
• Further Reading
• Notes
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright