The water was cool and refreshing on Amy’s sandpaper tongue and parched throat, and Jenny allowed her to drink her fill. Silence reigned during this period, with Jenny simply holding the bottle and scrutinising the slim, bound woman before her; that devious smile never dissipating for a second. Once her thirst was quenched, it was therefore left to Amy to initiate communication once more. Anyway, if the Royal Mail live up to their promise of delivering second class post in two days, my letter should reach the police station on Wednesday morning. So, if they take the message seriously and act immediately – and there’s no guarantee they will, given how overstretched they always claim they are, resource-wise - you could well be free by Wednesday evening. I do hope so for your sake...” That was her friend’s comment when Sally avoided the issue, although Angela also said that the secrecy was intriguing her.

Straight Jacket by Matthew Todd - Penguin Books New Zealand Straight Jacket by Matthew Todd - Penguin Books New Zealand

Despite the subtitle 'How to be Gay and Happy', this isn't very happy reading. It's more about the psychological damage being LGBT in today's society does to you. Although I really don't want to say anything bad about this book because it clearly is very necessary and has had a positive impact on some of those who read it, I did find it a bit repetitive, anecdotal and clunky in parts. I would also have loved more focus on the 'happy' bit, which Todd does do in a few chapters at the end - I found the one on how society could be better improved to help LGBT people particularly fascinating, and worthy of a book by itself! Sally hadn’t really given this aspect much thought, but apologised and said that yes, if Angela wouldn’t mind, that would be great.A really brilliant and moving read for everybody, especially LGBTQI+ people' - Olly Alexander, star of It's A Sin She lifted her arms as best she could, just in case Jenny had somehow forgotten the circumstances in which she languished, and needed her memory jogged as to what Amy was alluding to. Jenny, of course, needed no such reminder. But when she finally spoke, there was no hint of her being in any way disposed to grant Amy’s request. This was a strange book. Not strange as in weird, but strange in that it presents itself as one thing while it is, in reality, something quite different. Billed as ‘part memoir, part ground-breaking polemic, it looks beneath the shiny facade of contemporary gay culture and asks if gay people are as happy as they could be’. The description continues:

Straight Jacket Audiobook Libro.fm | Straight Jacket Audiobook

The smile, if anything, got broader and more evil in nature as she spoke these words. Amy shifted restlessly. Angela had retrieved the album sleeve and was comparing it to the image that she’d helped to create. Amy squirmed and writhed in her leather encasement as Jenny spat out these words with venom, and for the first time her struggles stemmed from a genuine desire to break free. Jenny seemed oblivious to the grief her actions were causing, however. Or perhaps she simply didn’t care. He continues this bizarre polemic when he derides fantasy as being ‘often the first way we disassociate from the world around us’. After this, he tries to explain why the fandoms of shows like Doctor Who are predominantly gay: The director uses B&W lighting effectively, especially toward the end, to create suspense and a sense of mystery. Rearview projection in a few scenes makes the film look dated.Sally assured her that it wasn’t. In fact, she was anxious to get the next phase of her restraint under way. Gay shame is something I guess I'm still dealing with. Maybe we all are. Even as I wrote this review I was like, "Do I get to talk about it? Will people mind? Will they judge me?" And even yesterday at my filmmaking club I had a weird feeling when someone brought up the fact that I had a husband. There were new members from Turkey, and I scanned my brain for any info of how not cool it is to be gay in Turkey and whether or not that "too early" reveal of my gayness might have scared off great filmmaking collaborators. Like, I'm so sorry my soulmate and I love one another so, you theoretical versions of people from a country I know nothing about. The clanking of a metal panel, followed by the sound of footsteps which slowly became louder, brought Amy out of her solitary reveries, as she waited with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation for the maker of this commotion to appear. Seconds later the door opened and a torch beam briefly bobbed and flitted around the walls and high ceiling, before steadying and pinpointing the trussed up woman sitting in one corner of the vast space. As the figure approached, Amy was temporarily blinded, and the first solid clue she received that this was Jenny returning and not some random intruder, came when her visitor spoke. Standing up again and holding her arms out in front of her, Sally presented herself to her onlooking - and slightly bemused - accomplice.