A review by eggata
Between Worlds: A Queer Boy from the Valleys by Jeffrey Weeks

informative inspiring medium-paced

3.0

The lives of gay activists during the 70s onwards had always fascinated me, as someone who was very shielded from gay history growing up, Reading about the experiences of someone who lived through these times was very interesting and I enjoyed the mix of personal and professional aspects of this memoir. It was also interesting to see the various influences on Weeks' writings and activism. I love seeing how writers reach their conclusions as these are often extremely nuanced topics. It was very clear that Weeks has been influenced by a wide variety of people and ideas. I particularly loved Weeks' thoughts on the idea of community and grassroots activism, even if his race commentary was lacking. Another theme throughout the memoir was understanding the views of others, even if you didn't agree, and the analysis of these various ideas was quite compelling.

However, the reason I picked up this book was the promise of a discussion surrounding queerness in the valleys (as I am currently queer in the valleys). We definitely got an insight into Weeks' childhood and the struggles of growing up as a gay man in the Rhondda. What was lacking for me, was a link to the valleys throughout the rest of the memoir. For the majority of the memoir, no links were made to the Rhondda, which is something I would have liked to see a deeper exploration of. The parts that did talk about the Valleys culture were extremely interesting, I just wish it was a theme throughout!

Overall, an interesting read.