Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Baldwin''s ground-breaking second novel, which established him as one of the great American writers of his time

''Audacious... remarkable... elegant and courageous'' Caryl Phillips

David, a young American in 1950s Paris, is waiting for his fiancée to return from vacation in Spain. But when he meets Giovanni, a handsome Italian barman, the two men are drawn into an intense affair. After three months David's fiancée returns and, denying who he is, he rejects Giovanni for a ''safe'' future as a married man. It is a decision that will bring tragedy.

''Exquisite, a feat of fire-breathing, imaginative daring'' Guardian