Meet Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: artists, lovers, outsiders. From 1930s Glasgow to wartime London, The Two Roberts is a captivating love story, inspired by the true story of their wild lives.

Scotland, 1933. Bobby MacBryde is on his way. After years grafting at Lees Boot Factory, he’s off to the Glasgow School of Art, to his future. On his first day he will meet another Robert, a quiet man with loose dark curls – and never leave his side. Together they will spend every penny and every minute devouring Glasgow – its botanical gardens, the Barras market, a whole hidden city – all the while loving each other behind closed doors. With the world on the brink of war, their unrivalled talent will take them to Paris, Rome, London. They will become stars as the bombs fall, hosting wild parties with the likes of Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Elizabeth Smart. But the brightest stars burn fastest.

Stunningly reimagined, The Two Roberts is a profoundly moving story of devotion and obsession, art and class. It is a love letter to MacBryde and Colquhoun, the almost-forgotten artists who tried to change the way the world sees – and paid a devastating price.

Damian will be here at bookhaus to discuss his novel with us. Tickets cost £6 and include a glass of wine or a soft drink and £2 off the book.

‘Vivid and alive. A truly great story penned by one of Scotland's finest writers’

JENNI FAGAN

‘A full-blown treat, historical fiction that brings to life unjustly neglected figures of queer art’

PATRICK GALE

‘Epic and touching’
DAVID NICHOLLS

Entry requirements: no age restrictions — Read more — Read less