Dylin Hardcastle

"The prose is textured, viscous almost, an ooze of sweet honey shot through with golden light . . . A Language of Limbs is a novel of (impeccable) vibes and mood, a gay hymnal written from inside the guts of the two protagonists."
—Yves Rees, Australian Book Review

A breathtaking, sliding-doors, will-they-won’t-they love story and a tender epic that explores the weight of a choice, the love of community and how joy is found in even the darkest corners.
 
Newcastle, Australia, 1972. On a sticky summer night, a choice must be made: To give in to queer desire or suppress it? To venture into the unknown or stay the course? In alternating chapters, we trace the two versions of a life that follow.
 
In one, a teenage girl is caught kissing her neighbor and is kicked out from her home. She lands at a queer communal home in Sydney called Uranian House, where she meets the people who will forever become her family. Meanwhile, in the second, a teenage girl pushes down her lustful dreams of her best friend and eventually makes her way to a university in Sydney to study English literature.
 
During pivotal moments, the physical space between these two women closes—like when they each meet the first great loves of their lives in 1977 at a protest, or when, almost a decade later, they are both rushed to the hospital with only a curtain between them. Through the AIDS crisis—and from classrooms to art galleries, beds to bars and hospitals to homes—we witness these two lives shadow each other until, finally and poignantly, they collide.

A Language of Limbs

A love story about the almost crossovers of our lives... 1972. On a quiet summer night in Newcastle, Australia, two teenage girls must each make a choice: to act upon their desires or suppress them? To live an openly queer life or to try desperately not to? Over the following three decades, these girls grow into women and live out their decisions, always almost crossing paths at pivotal moments. In an era that spans Australia's first Mardi Gras and the AIDS pandemic, there is joy and grief and loss and desire for each of them – but will their lives ever collide? A Language of Limbs is about love and how it's policed, friendship and how it transcends, and hilarity in the face of heartbreak. A celebration of queer life in all its vibrancy and colour, this story finds the humanity in all of us and demands we claim our futures for ourselves. Perfect for readers who loved Chloe Michelle Howarth's Sunburn, Carol Rifka Brunt's Tell the Wolves I’m Home and Joseph Cassara's The House of Impossible Beauties, as well as fans of Pose, Call Me By Your Name and Angels in America. 'Hardcastle imbues the book with poetry, history and visual art, offering a love letter to the Australian queer community' - TIME (The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025) 'The queer Australian working-class novel you didn't know you needed - a heart-rending exploration of modern Australian gay history through the eyes of two women' - Soula Emmanuel, Irish Independent 'Immersive and vividly descriptive... instances of queer joy in the novel, and moments of hardship are written with such grace. I will be thinking about this book for a long time' - Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of Sunburn 'Wholly original... Heartbreaking and poignant, not to be forgotten' - USA Today 'A luminous exploration of desire, resistance and the architectures of connection' - Scene Magazine 'A life-affirming, deeply-felt novel of the decisions we make and the lives that unspool from them. To read A Language of Limbs is to be reminded of the power of queer joy and community. I loved it' - Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rights 'Hardcastle's novel carried me away like a tidal current. Expansive across time, yet intimate in its focus, A Language of Limbs is that rare book that's equally poetic and propulsive... Nothing short of an instant queer classic' - Benjamin Law, author of The Family Law 'An epic tale of sapphic pleasure, pain and activism in the face of police brutality' - Big Issue 'Formally inventive... It's like gay, literary Sliding Doors. And its told in gorgeous, often fragmentary prose' - Autostraddle 'Poetic, fresh and mesmerising, Hardcastle's work is like nothing I have ever read. A Language of Limbs is full of feeling; a love story about the family we make ourselves... I am desperate for more stories like this' - Jessie Stephens, author of Something Bad is Going to Happen This novel contains depictions of family violence, overt transphobia, homophobia, racism and physical violence. This novel portrays the AIDS pandemic. This novel also depicts a stillbirth.

A sapphic love story celebrating queer life

Elle Nash

Various

James Cahill

Joelle Taylor

Joshua Jones

Carrie Marshall

Gerardo Sámano Córdova

Chloe Michelle Howarth

William Rayfet Hunter

Seth Insua

The inaugural collection in the new VERVE Voices series, Queerphoria is a joyful and defiant queer-authored anthology proudly supporting Switchboard, the national LGBTQIA+ support line. Four housemates welcome the reader into their home for a birthday party. An elderly widow visits her first queer bar, beneath the flat she shared with her husband. A couple invite a shipwrecked sailor into their isolated lighthouse on the stormy night of their thirtieth anniversary. A single woman embarks on a romantic relationship with a sex robot. A married couple secretly prepare for their baby's arrival in a world where procreation is controlled by the Establishment. Through prose, poetry, essays, illustrations and more, twenty-one writers bring their visions of euphoria to life. These pages celebrate, subvert, expand and reimagine what joy can look like, even in uncertain times. Switchboard will receive a £1 donation from every copy sold. Includes contributions from: Amil (translated by Joheun Lee) | Santanu Bhattacharya | Maame Blue | James Cahill | Jenny Chamarette | Gerardo Sámano Córdova | Soula Emmanuel | Selali Fiamanya | Eve Gleichman | Remi Graves | Dylin Hardcastle | Chloe Michelle Howarth | William Rayfet Hunter | Seth Insua | Joshua Jones | Laura Kay | Carrie Marshall | Peo Michie | Elle Nash | Peter Scalpello | Joelle Taylor About Switchboard: For over 50 years, Switchboard has supported the LGBTQIA+ community through challenges and triumphs, offering a listening ear in difficult times and moments of joy. Their support is completely free and available wherever you feel most comfortable, whether that's via phone (0800 0119 100), chat (switchboard.lgbt) or email (hello@switchboard.lgbt). Switchboard's services are open from 10 AM to 10 PM, every single day of the year. Their trained volunteers are available to discuss anything related to sexuality and gender identity; whether it's sexual health, relationships or just the way you're feeling. For anyone, anywhere in the country, at any point in their journey.

An Own Voices anthology celebrating queer joy

Queerphoria

Dylin Hardcastle

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