A Queer Inheritance: Alternative Histories in the National Trust

'A revelatory masterpiece, a true alternative history of our times' - Simon Jenkins, former Chair of the National Trust 'Thoroughly researched and elegantly written' - Peter Parker, TLS LGBTQ+ histories and identities come out of the National Trust's properties in these touching, poignant and revealing stories. National Trust houses and landscapes might seem to embody conventional family values, but for generations some very different stories were hidden away. These belong to owners now considered queer for defying the norms of sexual orientation or gender identity – sometimes blatantly, occasionally as open secrets, but most often very discreetly. Michael Hall explores not only the best-known examples of sexual difference, such as Lawrence of Arabia at Clouds Hill, Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst and the 'Dancing Marquess' at Plas Newydd; he also covers more recently unveiled stories, such as the lesbian community at Smallhythe and the homosexual scandals associated with Clumber.