(courtesy official Holden Sheppard Twitter/X account)
SNAPSHOT
Two Kings is a gritty and heartfelt gay coming-of-age story, set in the world of FIFO workers and tradies in Western Australia. Giacomo Brolo, aka Jack, is a mess, consumed by a self-loathing all too common for closeted men who have grown up in a world of hate and shame, and content to drown his sorrows in booze, drugs and a flashy car. Everything changes when Jack returns to his regional hometown Geraldton. Forced to confront his traumatic past and his deeply conservative Italian family, he finds himself yearning for something more than the dead-end, single life he’d resigned himself to. Whatever happened to Xavier, the former schoolmate who Jack was in love with and whose rejection spurred him to leave Geraldton in the first place? Can Jack open himself up to the possibility of love, found family and connection; could he and Xavier once again be two kings together? (courtesy Pantera Press)
Good lord but can Holden Sheppard write!
There’s grit and reality galore in his books but also a sweet, tender hopeful humanity, and his focus on queer life and what life hidden in the closet can do to a person who simply wants to be loved unconditionally for whom they are is a refreshing and liberating tonic for the soul, especially if, like this reviewer, you are a gay man who spent much of his first four decades of life hiding his true self from the world.
Sheppard’s first two books, both YA efforts, Invisible Boys (2019) and The Brink (2022), were searingly intense but illuminating beautiful stories of people going to hell and back but finally finding peace with who they are and with those around them.
They were standout reads in the years they were released and so, it’s hugely exciting that Sheppard has just announced on his social media channels that there’s another book in the offing, this time an adult novel about which his publisher, Tom Langshaw, at Pantera Press had this to say:
‘Holden’s first two novels, for young adults, are widely loved for good reason, combining raw emotion with voice-driven, pacy storytelling,’ he says. ‘In Two Kings, his talents are on full display. The character of Jack leaps off the page, and his story of a delayed coming-of-age is by turns surprising, heart-wrenching and moving. Two Kings is gritty and brash, unapologetically so, and I’m thrilled Pantera is publishing it.’ (courtesy Pantera Press)
For a writer who has always rewardingly worn his heart on his sleeve, it’s not surprising that Sheppard’s upcoming novel comes with a great deal of personal import and meaning.
‘Two Kings is the most vulnerable book I’ve ever written. Instead of splitting myself into three narrators, as with my previous novels, in Two Kings I’ve channelled everything into one character. Like me, Jack Brolo is a misfit of a bloke trying to find his place in the world, and his labourer’s voice gives the novel this sense of rowdy, radical honesty about what being a working-class gay man looks like. I’m so pumped to share this story with the world, and I can’t wait for readers to meet Jack.
‘I’m absolutely stoked that Two Kings will be published by Pantera Press,’ Sheppard adds. ‘Everyone in the Pantera team has made me feel so welcome, and working with publisher Tom Langshaw on the edits is such a dream. I am so grateful to Pantera for believing in the power of this novel, and I feel lucky to have found such a nurturing home for my words.’ (courtesy Pantera Press)
Two Kings releases in June 2025 from Pantera Press.