The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst is a richly layered novel that blends social satire, political commentary, and an intimate exploration of desire and identity. Set in Britain during the 1980s, the book examines the intersections of class, sexuality, and power in a society marked by conservative politics, rising wealth, and the specter of the AIDS crisis. Through the experiences of its protagonist, the novel reflects on beauty—both as an aesthetic ideal and as a fragile, fleeting quality in human lives.
The story centers on Nick Guest, a young, middle-class Oxford graduate who is both an outsider and an observer of the privileged world he longs to be part of. Invited to live with the wealthy Fedden family in their London home, Nick becomes entwined in their social world, fascinated by their affluence and political connections. His journey is marked by both aspiration and alienation as he navigates a society where class, sexuality, and appearance dictate one’s place.
Nick’s relationships with the Feddens anchor much of the novel’s drama. Gerald Fedden, a newly elected Conservative MP, embodies political ambition and the allure of power during the Thatcher era, while Rachel Fedden, his wife, represents a patrician sense of propriety and tradition. Nick’s bond with the Feddens’ daughter Catherine, who struggles with mental health challenges, offers moments of genuine connection amid a world of appearances and façades. These relationships highlight the tensions between personal intimacy and public performance.
Central to Nick’s personal journey is his exploration of his sexuality in a society still deeply homophobic. His romantic entanglements—first with Leo, a working-class clerk living a closeted life, and later with Wani Ouradi, the glamorous and wealthy son of a Lebanese businessman—reflect the novel’s themes of secrecy, desire, and the collision between private longing and public image. These relationships reveal both the exhilaration and vulnerability of queer love in an era marked by stigma and the rising threat of AIDS.
The political and cultural climate of the 1980s is an unspoken but ever-present force shaping the characters’ lives. Hollinghurst portrays a Britain divided by class, energized by materialism, and shadowed by prejudice. The novel’s title alludes to the curved line that evokes beauty in art and architecture—a metaphor for the elusive balance between pleasure and danger, aspiration and downfall.
As the narrative unfolds, the consequences of hidden lives and moral compromises come to the surface. Scandals threaten the Feddens’ political standing, the AIDS epidemic claims lives, and Nick’s place in the world he admired proves more precarious than he imagined. The novel’s conclusion underscores the fragility of social acceptance and the transience of beauty, leaving Nick—once a guest in the corridors of power—confronting the limits of belonging.
In the end, The Line of Beauty is both a poignant coming-of-age story and a sharp commentary on class, politics, and sexuality in a transformative decade. Hollinghurst’s prose captures the allure and the costs of beauty, revealing how personal and political histories intertwine in shaping both individual destinies and a society in flux.
