I Remember Everything by Fiona Wilkes

Description

I Remember Everything
by Fiona Wilkes
Paperback | ISBN: 1760996416

Tender, devastating, and deeply alive, I Remember Everything is a moving queer literary novel about friendship, memory, love, and survival in the shadow of the AIDS epidemic.

Beginning in Bristol before unfolding across the vibrant and turbulent queer communities of 1980s London, the novel follows Billie as she comes of age and slowly builds a life shaped by chosen family, artistic longing, and hard-won self-discovery. As a young queer woman navigating identity, desire, and belonging, Billie finds herself surrounded by an unforgettable circle of friends whose lives become intertwined through joy, creativity, heartbreak, and political uncertainty.

There is Robert, endlessly eccentric and impossible to predict. Tolstoy, the observant photographer capturing fleeting moments before they disappear. Eleanor, gentle and quietly resilient. Sasha with his sweetness and vulnerability. Fierce, uncompromising Aggie. Ted, still dreaming despite everything. And always Laura: magnetic, elusive, and the great emotional constant in Billie’s life.

But time changes everything.

As the AIDS epidemic devastates their community, Billie watches the world she fought to build begin to fracture under grief and loss. Decades later, carrying the memories of those years, Billie begins writing their stories down, preserving not only the tragedy of what was lost but also the extraordinary love, humor, tenderness, and joy that existed alongside it.

Fiona Wilkes writes with emotional precision and luminous compassion, crafting a novel that honors queer lives without reducing them solely to suffering. I Remember Everything becomes both elegy and celebration, a testament to friendship, resilience, and the enduring power of remembering those who shaped us.

Heartfelt, beautifully written, and profoundly human, this acclaimed novel is perfect for readers of literary LGBTQ+ fiction, queer historical narratives, and emotionally rich stories about chosen family, love, and survival.

Shortlisted for the 2024 Hungerford Award