The Persian Boy

‘One of the greatest historical novels ever written’ SARAH WATERS

‘I love to find queer representation in historical fiction . . . Renault’s eye for intimacy is amazing’ DOUGLAS STUART

‘Fierce, complex and eloquent’ MADELINE MILLER

‘Mary Renault is a shining light’ HILARY MANTEL

A groundbreaking queer classic and powerful reimagining of the last years of Alexander the Great, told through the eyes of his lover.

I thought, There goes my lord, whom I was born to follow. I have found a king.

And, I said to myself, looking after him as he walked away, I will have him, if I die for it.

Bagoas, abducted as a boy and sold as a eunuch, has been transported to the heart of the Persian court as courtesan to King Darius. But when the Macedon army conquers his homeland, Bagoas finds freedom at the hands of their golden young commander, whose name is already becoming a legend: Alexander.

Their encounter sparks a passionate devotion that shapes the Persian boy’s future – and deepens into a relationship that will sustain them both through assassination plots, political intrigue and the threat of Alexander’s own restless ambition. This is a spellbinding tale of power, loyalty and loss – a vision of history transfigured by love.

‘Nowhere else in fiction have Alexander’s beauty and charisma blazed with such potency’ TOM HOLLAND

‘Passionate and captivating’ SEAN HEWITT

‘All my sense of the ancient world – its value, its style, the scent of its wars and passions – comes from Mary Renault’ EMMA DONOGHUE

‘The Alexander Trilogy stands as one of the most important works of fiction in the twentieth century’ ANTONIA SENIOR, THE TIMES