'A riveting and remarkable retelling of a true story.' - SARA SHERIDAN
'A very enjoyable novel, one that can give pleasure and invite speculation at the same time.' - THE SCOTSMAN
'His remarkable life story has, for the first time, been pieced together from myriad contemporary newspaper reports, historical archives and contradictory anecdotes to form a stunning new novel' - SUNDAY POST
He kept his secret for a lifetime. Now the truth will rock New York.
It is 1901, and Dr Gallagher has just pronounced Murray Hall dead. New York politico, gambler, womaniser - Hall is all these things, but when the newspapers break the news of his death to the world, they reveal a side to his identity he never wanted known, a secret no one could have guessed.
Sam Clellan, an ambitious young journalist, is determined to uncover the truth of Hall's past, but his search leads him down winding alleys of fact and fiction. From humble beginnings in Glasgow's tenements to a life spent rubbing up against New York's political elite, Murray Hall is the definition of a self-made man. But the higher his status rises, the higher the stakes become.
Inspired by a true story of one Scot's rise to prominence, Murray Hall unearths a queer past erased by history, finally bringing all the puzzle pieces together to discover the secret of this extraordinary, ordinary man, which shocked New York, America and the world.
'Murray Hall does what historical fiction does best: shines a light on the past to illuminate the present...' - ANGIE SPOTO
'Deeply moving and immersive, Milo Allan's extraordinary novel is a constantly shifting, chameleon-like thing, taking in gender, queerness, and grief.' - ALLY WILKES Milo Allan is a pseudonym for a collaboration between Milo Clenshaw and Vicky Allan.
Milo Clenshaw is a writer, producer and curator based in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, where he works for the charity Alchemy Film & Arts. When not in the borders he can be found further north, in Glasgow with his partner. He is invested in platforming queer stories, whatever the medium. His previous work includes poetry, criticism and journalism, and his writing often orbits transness both as a personal and political subject. Murray Hall is his first novel.
Vicky Allan is the environment correspondent for the Herald newspaper and has written many books about wild swimming, including the popular Taking the Plunge and The Art of Wild Swimming guides, working with the photographer Anna Deacon. She enjoys collaborative projects, and this is her first adventure in collaborative fiction. Her other books include a collection of personal stories about the menopause, created with Kaye Adams, and a creepy novel, Stray, about a cat. Vicky is married, has two teenage sons and a cat, and lives in Edinburgh. It's 1901. Murray Hall has just been pronounced dead. The famous New York politico, womaniser, immigrant, father and gambler has lived quite a life, but this is the day he will shock New York, America and the world. A great subject, which taps into the growing interest in queer revisionist histories and unearths new information on a previously untold story. Based on the true story of Murray Hall, a New York City bail bondsman and Tammany Hall politician born in Govan, Scotland, who became famous after his death in 1901. Explores real newspaper clippings, characters from Hall's past and historical records to get a new understanding of his life.
