The Colour of His Hair

1976 — a more liberal time for gay men and women than the mid-eighties. That doesn’t mean an easy ride, however, for the central characters of The Colour Of His Hair, Mark, aged eighteen, and Donald, aged seventeen, who fall in love and begin a relationship. When their so-called friends at school find out what is going on, the persecution begins. Donald nearly breaks down under the strain, despite help from an unexpected quarter — his English teacher, who is also gay. But the relationship survives into early adulthood, and ten years on it undergoes some surprising twists and turns in less liberal, AIDS-conscious 1986. The Colour Of His Hair is a return by David Rees to a novel about gay teenagers with whom, according to most critics, he deals more sympathetically and with more insight and understanding than any living novelist.