'I mean, it's nothing really. An old face from the past.'

Two men meet on a dating app. It's supposed to be a casual encounter between strangers. Jordan is only back in Edinburgh to visit his complicated family, and Davie is reeling from a painful breakup.

Yet Davie recognises Jordan as someone he knew long ago, when they were both closeted teenagers at the same school. Back then, Jordan was relentlessly bullied - and Davie was one of the bullies. But Jordan doesn't remember him at all.

Against the backdrop of a city steeped in memories, Davie and Jordan find themselves drawn together again and again. A fragile intimacy blossoms between them, but can anyone ever be free of their past?

About the Author

Allan Radcliffe was born in Perth, Scotland, and now lives near Edinburgh. His writing has won the Allen Wright Award and the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. With an MA from the University of Glasgow, he works as an arts journalist and editor, and is currently a freelance theatre critic and feature writer. His short stories have been published in anthologies including Out There, The Best Gay Short Stories and New Writing Scotland, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. His debut novel The Old Haunts was published in 2024 and was shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book Award 2024 and the McKitterick Prize 2024.

Reviews
'I was quietly moved by Allan Radcliffe's thoughtful, lovely story, steeped in vodka, bog-smell, and aging rain, about these wounded characters who tiptoe toward one another and risk the terrifying possibility of an un-haunted life. I want to believe they can do it.' -Jeanne Thornton, author of A/S/L and Summer Fun

'An intimate tale of two souls attempting to find themselves, as well as each other. Character-driven yet cinematic, "Blurred Faces" is tenderly romantic and achingly poignant with a sharp complexity.' -Harker Jones, author of Until September



Book Information
ISBN 9781914148804
Author Allan Radcliffe
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Fairlight Books
Publisher Fairlight Books