Cicada

In 1965, Arthur Johnston, a Scottish migrant kid to Australia, finds himself in a strange new land full of bizarre wild life - including the titular cicadas - and achingly beautiful landscapes. Soon after, he discovers a powerful, undeniable attraction to men at the beach, where so many Australian residents experience their first sexual feelings. What is it like to discover that you're gay in a land seemingly full of athletic sports heroes? How does it emerge in spite of your superego, in spite of the disapproval and disdain of the entire world, religion, psychology, mates and morals? It is a true conflict, and we follow Arthur's journey of self-acceptance from his sexual awakening at the beach through some early fumbles and stumbles in a boarding house and on to his decision to come out in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Along the way he meets his first love, damaged, hyper sexual Rip Carpenter - an American Vietnam war veteran with PTSD. Rip adores Arthur and asks him to move in. But Rip won't commit to fidelity, feeling that Arthur is too young and needs to spread his emerging, beautiful wings before they are tied down forever. Rip has issues of his own that Arthur learns to navigate. Moving on from his job as a not very successful pub singer, and inspired by Rip's psychological issues, Arthur becomes a psychiatric nurse and learns self-respect and forges integrity through caring for others through feeling useful in the world. Unexpectedly blithe, sexy as hell, and with a cast of memorable characters including Arthur's badly mismatched parents Louise and Barrie, and with his relational needs sublimated to some extent by his close relationship with his guitar teacher and lifelong friend Ursula, Cicada is a period piece and a study of gay life in decades gone by that concludes just before the emergence and spread of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s.

Ian Cuthbertson lives in Newtown, Australia, with his husband and a much adored American Staffordshire Terrier named Luna. He spent many years as a psychiatric nurse and worked as a journalist, including for 12 years at a national newspaper. In collaboration with partner Greg Callaghan, he has published two books with mainstream publishers. Ian also audio produced and wrote and performed the theme music for the smash his LGBT podcast Bondi Badlands. A keen musician, Ian released his debut solo album Fathom in 2010. Cicada is his first novel.