"Men like you and Loukianos are a great boon to women like me, you know."
"W-we are?" He'd have thought it was the opposite.
"Oh, yes. One can't do all one's politicking in bed. It's handy to have men to deal with who don't expect it." [p. 98]
Hylas Mnemotios has come to the island of Tykanos to build a much-needed aqueduct. He's something of an innocent, in more ways than one, and is dismayed to find that he's been assigned a lodging in a tea-house, the eponymous House of the Red Balconies. Tykanos' tea-houses are its pride and joy: places where one can enjoy good food and drink, conversation and music -- and, for a consideration, the charms of the companions. Hylas finds himself sharing a garden with the companion Zo, the most beautiful person he's ever met. And Zo, with his mysterious past and his chronic illness, finds that Hylas is kind, unassuming, and willing to bring him his breakfast every day.
Hylas quickly becomes known in the house as Aqueduct Man, but his professional endeavours are frustrated by the unpredictable customs of Tykanos: the fact that he has to seek out the quartermaster's mistress to assemble a team of workers, the drunken outings to other tea-houses with his employer Loukianos, the gorgeous map of the island's water sources and piping which is wholly inaccurate. He begins to feel more comfortable in the House of the Red Balconies, despite its impoverishment, and despite its bad-tempered Mistress Aula. And he is enraptured by Zo's music: by Zo. But Mistress Aula demands that Zo find a wealthy patron, and Hylas doesn't even know when he's next getting paid ...
The House of the Red Balconies is a novel about kindness, friendship, secrets and mutual support; a slow-burning, sweet romance; and a cheering vision of a society in which same-sex love is regarded as natural and normal, and in which women, though precluded from formal power, find plenty of ways to exert influence. Demas' alt-Classical world, based on but not identical to the ancient Mediterranean, is full of the minutae that bring the best historical fiction to life: the romance novel that everyone's eager to read, lent to Hylas by Mutari (the quartermaster's mistress), the adjustments Zo's made to his room so that he can manage better on bad pain days, the gossip in the kitchen. I'm reminded of the little details in Rosemary Sutcliff's books that bring a lost world to life.
And I loved the alternation of Zo's and Hylas's narratives, and their complementary strengths and weaknesses. Hylas comes from Sparta-flavoured Ariata and has a lot to unlearn about toxic masculinity: Zo is from Persia-styled Zash, and left his identity, as well as his family, behind. Each man, at the beginning of the story, Is adrift, without connections or any sense of home: by the end of the novel they (and others) have found stability, security and love. The House of the Red Balconies is an absolute delight, highly recommended. The sign of a good novel, for me, is that on finishing it I immediately want to reread the author's other works: I've already reread most of Sword Dance, and I'm looking forward to rereading more by Demas this weekend.
Many thanks to the author for the review copy! UK publication date is 24th June 2024.
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