Nova Scotia House

By: Charlie Porter

Narrated by: Charlie Porter

Johnny Grant faces stark life decisions. Seeking answers, he looks back to his relationship with Jerry Field. When they met, nearly thirty years ago, Johnny was nineteen, Jerry was forty-five. They fell in love and made a life on their own terms in Jerry’s flat: 1, Nova Scotia House. Johnny is still there today—but Jerry is gone, and so is the world they knew.

As Johnny’s mind travels between then and now, he begins to remember stories of Jerry’s youth: of experiments in living; of radical philosophies; of the many possibilities of love, sex, and friendship before the AIDS crisis devastated the queer community. Slowly, he realizes what he must do next—and attempts to restore ways of being that could be lost forever.

Nova Scotia House takes us to the heart of a relationship, a community, and an era. It is both a love story and a lament; bearing witness to the enduring pain of the AIDS pandemic and honoring the joys and creativity of queer life. Intimate, visionary, and profoundly original, it marks the debut of a vibrant new voice in contemporary fiction, and a writer with a liberating new story to tell.

©2025 Charlie Porter (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Breathtaking

Nova Scotia House is an incredibly moving story which is beautifully narrated by the author. There is love and loss yet there is hope in renewal, creativity, community and queer magic.