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Division Bells
In politics, love is a stranger…
It’s a bitterly cold winter in London and Jules Elwin has no idea what he’s doing. As the newest special adviser to a government minister, he’s drowning in arcane procedures and party politics, and the civil servant who’s supposed to be helping him is doing nothing of the sort. Ari is sarcastic, intolerant and has no time for a special adviser who’s only there because his father is a peer of the realm.
Jules is only one of Ari’s many problems. As well as nursemaiding a special adviser, he’s got to get a Bill through Parliament, keep his irrepressible minister happy and stop his esteemed colleagues from hiding alcohol in their filing cabinets. And there’s something else, too: a deep, unspoken grief, that’s consuming him like frost.
But despite everything, Ari sees the world around him clearly––and Jules has been waiting all of his life to be seen.
It’s a bitterly cold winter in London and Jules Elwin has no idea what he’s doing. As the newest special adviser to a government minister, he’s drowning in arcane procedures and party politics, and the civil servant who’s supposed to be helping him is doing nothing of the sort. Ari is sarcastic, intolerant and has no time for a special adviser who’s only there because his father is a peer of the realm.
Jules is only one of Ari’s many problems. As well as nursemaiding a special adviser, he’s got to get a Bill through Parliament, keep his irrepressible minister happy and stop his esteemed colleagues from hiding alcohol in their filing cabinets. And there’s something else, too: a deep, unspoken grief, that’s consuming him like frost.
But despite everything, Ari sees the world around him clearly––and Jules has been waiting all of his life to be seen.
80 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2020
8 people are currently reading
490 people want to read
About the author
Iona Datt Sharma
12 books176 followersI'm Iona, I write science fiction and fantasy and contemporary romance. My last romance, Blood Sweat Glitter, came out on 1 December 2024 and a new collection of SFF short stories, You Are Here, comes out on 1 January 2025.
My surname is "Datt Sharma", two words, but books listed on Goodreads under "Iona Sharma" are also me.
My surname is "Datt Sharma", two words, but books listed on Goodreads under "Iona Sharma" are also me.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
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October 12, 2020A sweet, slightly melancholy, utterly delightful romance set in the House of Lords between a civil servant and a spad working on an infrastructure bill. Might not sounds as romancey as the usual cupcake shop, but the setting works beautifully to give the characters hinterland, and really show how their work matters to them as well as their love lives--which in turn gives the romance more heft.
Strikingly gorgeous writing (author knows how to balance spare and lush), charming characters, deft observation: this is a fabulously assured novella, and I hope the author branches out to longer form because I'll read anything they care to write.
I had an ARC from the author.
Strikingly gorgeous writing (author knows how to balance spare and lush), charming characters, deft observation: this is a fabulously assured novella, and I hope the author branches out to longer form because I'll read anything they care to write.
I had an ARC from the author.
Read
November 7, 2020As the shelving shows, was rather charmed by this, and slightly unexpectedly since I'm contrary enough in my preferences that it's not easy to find queer books that work for me.
It's a very gentle romance between a civil servant and a special advisor--shades of Yes Minister given the focus on the administration of government (although less bitter).
As ever with workplace romances I found myself wanting a touch less work and a bit more of the characters outside work. But that might just have been readerly greed, in enjoying the characters, and wanting more of them. More book in general, actually, since this is a novella.
Deftly written, emotionally complex, slightly melancholy, slightly sweet.
It's a very gentle romance between a civil servant and a special advisor--shades of Yes Minister given the focus on the administration of government (although less bitter).
As ever with workplace romances I found myself wanting a touch less work and a bit more of the characters outside work. But that might just have been readerly greed, in enjoying the characters, and wanting more of them. More book in general, actually, since this is a novella.
Deftly written, emotionally complex, slightly melancholy, slightly sweet.
June 13, 2021
This was an unexpected little low-key gem.
Every once in a while (actually quite rarely) I run across something categorized as m/m romance and think, no, it's actually literary fiction. And then I'm stumped at writing a review, because I don't know how to explain what I mean. I'm not under the delusion that lit fic is better than genre fic. You can find crap and gems in both. So it's not about how good this is -- and it is good -- it's something undefinable. Well, undefinable for me, at any rate.
All I can say it that doesn't conform to any romance tropes (except for the happy ending); it goes its own way, and does its own thing, tropes be damned. And the writing is perfect for the story. Assured, smooth, managing to be simultaneously quite distinctive and yet not at all obtrusive. Heads-up, though, you will learn a lot about (or at least be exposed to a lot about) what goes on behind the scenes of Parliamentary legislation. Political sausage-making. I couldn't decide whether this was a pro or a con, so I'm settling for "both." But Iona Datt Sharma is 100% a keeper.
Every once in a while (actually quite rarely) I run across something categorized as m/m romance and think, no, it's actually literary fiction. And then I'm stumped at writing a review, because I don't know how to explain what I mean. I'm not under the delusion that lit fic is better than genre fic. You can find crap and gems in both. So it's not about how good this is -- and it is good -- it's something undefinable. Well, undefinable for me, at any rate.
All I can say it that doesn't conform to any romance tropes (except for the happy ending); it goes its own way, and does its own thing, tropes be damned. And the writing is perfect for the story. Assured, smooth, managing to be simultaneously quite distinctive and yet not at all obtrusive. Heads-up, though, you will learn a lot about (or at least be exposed to a lot about) what goes on behind the scenes of Parliamentary legislation. Political sausage-making. I couldn't decide whether this was a pro or a con, so I'm settling for "both." But Iona Datt Sharma is 100% a keeper.
Read
September 12, 2023This a lovely sweet and slightly melancholy novella. It hit just right for me. Two policy wonks fall in love. I'm impressed by the vivid, detailed, concrete sense of place.
This novella looks at the hard work that goes into trying to make change. When is it worth challenging incrementalism and compromise to start fresh? Looking at how hard it is to let go of good work and start at square one. I appreciate how the novel understands how hard civil servants and bureaucrats work *and* how sometimes more different perspectives are needed. I'm not pleased with this last sentence. I'm trying to pin down and capture something too simplistically, which this story explores more gently and expansively.
Beautiful, just what was needed. Nothing extraneous.
This novella looks at the hard work that goes into trying to make change. When is it worth challenging incrementalism and compromise to start fresh? Looking at how hard it is to let go of good work and start at square one. I appreciate how the novel understands how hard civil servants and bureaucrats work *and* how sometimes more different perspectives are needed. I'm not pleased with this last sentence. I'm trying to pin down and capture something too simplistically, which this story explores more gently and expansively.
Beautiful, just what was needed. Nothing extraneous.
May 9, 2023
Gorgeous contemporary M/M romance set in the UK, by one of my auto-buy authors, though previously I'd only read SFF by them. After this, I'm hoping they write more romance, any subgenre welcome! If you love a romance arc about two good people who got off on the wrong foot having to find out who the other really is, I especially recommend this one.
(Or if, like me, you're a former government employee, as both of the main characters work in government and *wow* was this so real.)
(Or if, like me, you're a former government employee, as both of the main characters work in government and *wow* was this so real.)
February 22, 2021
Okay, I'm going to be honest: I came for the romance but stayed for the details of UK legislative procedure. (And, to be fully honest, I finished the book wanting a LOT more legislative procedure and details. I would absolutely buy, like, a series of romances or mysteries or humor novels in this setting. So, so quickly.)
Also, I bought this book when I came out and saved it for when I needed it, and it turned out that when I needed it was when I was waiting in line for a COVID vaccine. Fully recommend it for when you want something light and sweet and not at all taxing.
Also, I bought this book when I came out and saved it for when I needed it, and it turned out that when I needed it was when I was waiting in line for a COVID vaccine. Fully recommend it for when you want something light and sweet and not at all taxing.
January 2, 2023
My 2022 reading has been hit or miss so far, but this little-novella-that-could pulled me out of the slump. First squee of 2022!
In the interest of full disclosure: I am a politics obsessive. All my degrees are in poli sci. I worked in a policy shop in DC in my distant youth. My grownup career is enmeshed in international political machinations but from the academic side. I love the process and the inside baseball and the wonkitude. So when a book opens with an excerpt from Erskine May on parliamentary procedure, I know this is my kind of book. And then right there on the second page, when Ari feels that "for once he had a grasp of an issue before it had a chance to blow up excitingly in his face" - I know it's love. And then later, when he references his own "self-destructive urge towards pedantry" - I realize I have found my soulmate.
All this to say YMMV. If you'd rather gauge your eye out with a rusty spoon then immerse yourself in parliamentary procedure and legislative sausage-making, then this may not be the novella for you -- because it's very much a workplace romance, emphasis on workplace. It is immersive in that sense (although two crucial moments in which Ari and Jules move their relationship closer towards intimacy actually, and necessarily, occur outside of the office). But if what you're really looking for is an absorbing, funny, competence-porny, but ultimately kind and moving story about two men who go from instant emnity (Ari) and obliviousness (Jules) to mutual respect to attraction to love, then this perfectly fits the bill.
I loved Jules's evolution from seeing himself as ... not quite a himbo, but certainly an unworthy beneficiary of nepotism (which he is!) with nothing to offer (untrue!), to a quietly competent, driven, engaged person who finds a purpose greater than himself. Because it is so understated. He gets a task and he does it well, and then he gets more tasks and does them well, pulling his weight on a team of people assigning or getting tasks and doing them well. There's no big drama or pep talk or musical montage about this; he just gets on with it. Like an adult. And Ari - driven, responsible, overworked Ari, showing care and consideration for everyone but himself. And when the conflict comes, they just ... deal with it like adults. I don't know why I'm harping on this, but it just felt so good to read about two adults getting on with things, even though they screw up, fumble and fall, and doing what they think is right and just figuring it out together, with decency and kindness and generosity underpinning it all. And the small group of characters around them - Eilidh, Diggory, the minister - are just perfectly drawn. Incredibly enough, you feel like you know them and like them, this little supporting cast, even in an 80-page novella almost entirely focused on Ari and Jules. Such a feat.
Closing in the only way I can (quote begins p.72):
"Ari!" Jules said. "What does this mean for us?"
"It means it all falls away." Ari was standing in the middle of Jules's living room, ablaze with mischief, with joy. He'd been laughing a minute ago but there were tears in his eyes. "It means we begin again."
Jules pulled Ari close, holding him against his heart. "Yes," he said, understanding the weight of what he was saying, feeling equal to the task of bearing it. "Fall, and begin again."
In the interest of full disclosure: I am a politics obsessive. All my degrees are in poli sci. I worked in a policy shop in DC in my distant youth. My grownup career is enmeshed in international political machinations but from the academic side. I love the process and the inside baseball and the wonkitude. So when a book opens with an excerpt from Erskine May on parliamentary procedure, I know this is my kind of book. And then right there on the second page, when Ari feels that "for once he had a grasp of an issue before it had a chance to blow up excitingly in his face" - I know it's love. And then later, when he references his own "self-destructive urge towards pedantry" - I realize I have found my soulmate.
All this to say YMMV. If you'd rather gauge your eye out with a rusty spoon then immerse yourself in parliamentary procedure and legislative sausage-making, then this may not be the novella for you -- because it's very much a workplace romance, emphasis on workplace. It is immersive in that sense (although two crucial moments in which Ari and Jules move their relationship closer towards intimacy actually, and necessarily, occur outside of the office). But if what you're really looking for is an absorbing, funny, competence-porny, but ultimately kind and moving story about two men who go from instant emnity (Ari) and obliviousness (Jules) to mutual respect to attraction to love, then this perfectly fits the bill.
I loved Jules's evolution from seeing himself as ... not quite a himbo, but certainly an unworthy beneficiary of nepotism (which he is!) with nothing to offer (untrue!), to a quietly competent, driven, engaged person who finds a purpose greater than himself. Because it is so understated. He gets a task and he does it well, and then he gets more tasks and does them well, pulling his weight on a team of people assigning or getting tasks and doing them well. There's no big drama or pep talk or musical montage about this; he just gets on with it. Like an adult. And Ari - driven, responsible, overworked Ari, showing care and consideration for everyone but himself. And when the conflict comes, they just ... deal with it like adults. I don't know why I'm harping on this, but it just felt so good to read about two adults getting on with things, even though they screw up, fumble and fall, and doing what they think is right and just figuring it out together, with decency and kindness and generosity underpinning it all. And the small group of characters around them - Eilidh, Diggory, the minister - are just perfectly drawn. Incredibly enough, you feel like you know them and like them, this little supporting cast, even in an 80-page novella almost entirely focused on Ari and Jules. Such a feat.
Closing in the only way I can (quote begins p.72):
"Ari!" Jules said. "What does this mean for us?"
"It means it all falls away." Ari was standing in the middle of Jules's living room, ablaze with mischief, with joy. He'd been laughing a minute ago but there were tears in his eyes. "It means we begin again."
Jules pulled Ari close, holding him against his heart. "Yes," he said, understanding the weight of what he was saying, feeling equal to the task of bearing it. "Fall, and begin again."
December 23, 2020
One of those five stars I can't put halfway decent words together about. Sorry. I could easily have read a 350-page novel about these characters, their coworkers, their work meetings (you read this right), their courtship, their disagreements and reconciliations. I paused several times while reading to just enjoy the language and the atmosphere Datt Sharma created.
Oh well, writing a non-entity of a review will guarantee I'll have forgotten most of it in a few months and will want to read it again. :)
Oh well, writing a non-entity of a review will guarantee I'll have forgotten most of it in a few months and will want to read it again. :)
November 3, 2020
I finished a book, wooo! I usually have an aversion to contemp, but I liked the premise too much not to give it a try and it was so, so good. Delightfully bureaucratic (you wouldn't think these words go together and yet), heartwarming, and the dynamic between them was perfection. Might be my sleep-deprived and generally addled brain, but it made me tear up too.
Either way, a combination of romance and politics, yes please!
Either way, a combination of romance and politics, yes please!
November 15, 2020
Rep: British Indian bi mc, gay mc, Black side character
December 6, 2020
Lovely, obscure, fun. I wish some more background had been given for the characters, but Sharma's turn of phrase is just amazing.
April 14, 2021
It feels weird to say I enjoyed the world-building in this novella about British Parliamentary procedure, but I really, really did. The subject matter is completely foreign to me, so much so that it's like another world, and it was a pleasure to see it unspool in all its measured detail. Datt Sharma takes the arcane technical aspects of British governance and makes them easy to understand, effortlessly telling the reader exactly what they need to know exactly when they need to know it, and imbues the whole thing with a kind of bureaucratic ritual magic, where you have to perform all the steps precisely or your intention will fail.
I found it fascinating. There's also an m/m romance with alternating POVs, which I totally failed at because I got the main characters confused at a crucial moment. But that's on me. The romance itself is sweet, though the pacing wasn't handled in a way I found satisfying. I did, however, very much appreciate the source—and resolution—of the third act conflict.
Contains: grief; what could be read as a depressive episode.
(I won a copy of this from the author on Twitter in exchange for nothing! but I wrote a review anyway because that's what I do.)
I found it fascinating. There's also an m/m romance with alternating POVs, which I totally failed at because I got the main characters confused at a crucial moment. But that's on me. The romance itself is sweet, though the pacing wasn't handled in a way I found satisfying. I did, however, very much appreciate the source—and resolution—of the third act conflict.
Contains: grief; what could be read as a depressive episode.
(I won a copy of this from the author on Twitter in exchange for nothing! but I wrote a review anyway because that's what I do.)
December 18, 2020
Probably there are people out there who don't want to read a romance where a major plot obstacle is that, due to an obscure provision in legislation, the protagonist and his love interest have to either get a two-thirds majority in the House of Lords to pass their bill, or have to rewrite certain clauses to circumvent the provision ... but I am certainly not one of them. Delightful. And I learnt a bunch about Westminster (it seems bad, get your shit together, Westminster). I would read sequels.
November 4, 2020
I needed a break from the norm and when I saw this as I cruised around Amazon I though to myself, why not?
The author has a nice turn of phrase. I even enjoyed the nod to Yes, (Prime) Minister - one of the best shows ever made - with Sir Humphrey Applebee garnering a mention. It is a rather British story. However, we have a Westminster style Parliament here. I'm also of an age where when you went overseas it was likely you went to Earl's Court, and I grew up on a constant diet of English shows and news, as opposed to everything American, so I certainly understood what I needed to.
The cover, while it isn't the most striking I've ever seen, is clever once you've read the novella. The pictures represent the main characters and are relevant to different parts of the book - some happy, some more melancholy.
What I felt started out as a somewhat dry story grew in depth and dimension as the book progressed and was anything but. Could Ari and Jules have had somewhat more of a spark? Yep. That's why it's not 5 stars. I still enjoyed them and the overall storytelling once I felt involved though.
If you're looking for good writing and something different, grab Division Bells.
The author has a nice turn of phrase. I even enjoyed the nod to Yes, (Prime) Minister - one of the best shows ever made - with Sir Humphrey Applebee garnering a mention. It is a rather British story. However, we have a Westminster style Parliament here. I'm also of an age where when you went overseas it was likely you went to Earl's Court, and I grew up on a constant diet of English shows and news, as opposed to everything American, so I certainly understood what I needed to.
The cover, while it isn't the most striking I've ever seen, is clever once you've read the novella. The pictures represent the main characters and are relevant to different parts of the book - some happy, some more melancholy.
What I felt started out as a somewhat dry story grew in depth and dimension as the book progressed and was anything but. Could Ari and Jules have had somewhat more of a spark? Yep. That's why it's not 5 stars. I still enjoyed them and the overall storytelling once I felt involved though.
If you're looking for good writing and something different, grab Division Bells.
February 9, 2024
3.5 stars
A short book and a nice read, the first in a long while that made me think hard about the star rating.
A short book and a nice read, the first in a long while that made me think hard about the star rating.
November 26, 2020
4.5 stars
This was so good, and I'm really not sure how to describe it. There are definitely lots of details about getting a bill through Parliament, but I found it all very interesting and thought it really served to drive the character and relationship development with so much of both happening in the subtext. I'm a big fan of subtext. (Is that a weird thing to say??) One of the most impressive novellas I've read in the genre. I desperately hope Iona Datt Sharma keeps writing romance because I will read them all. Pushing their scifi anthology up on my TBR right now
This was so good, and I'm really not sure how to describe it. There are definitely lots of details about getting a bill through Parliament, but I found it all very interesting and thought it really served to drive the character and relationship development with so much of both happening in the subtext. I'm a big fan of subtext. (Is that a weird thing to say??) One of the most impressive novellas I've read in the genre. I desperately hope Iona Datt Sharma keeps writing romance because I will read them all. Pushing their scifi anthology up on my TBR right now
September 22, 2023
Reading this while attending climate week added an extra dimension 😂 A romance between a senior civil servant and a special advisor working on infrastructure legislation that touches on climate. There is quite a lot of wonky stuff in this one - made me want to better understand the British legislative process. The romance was sweet. Recommended if you’re into policy nerds being extra policy nerdy and falling in love.
February 8, 2024
This is a wonderful story: smart, funny, tender, and overflowing with emotion. It's simultaneously a hilarious inside look at the bureaucracy involved in passing legislation in the present-day UK and a love story, and these things work together intimately and perfectly. There's real sadness in it too, both personal sadness (one of the principal characters suffered a devastating loss in the recent past) and the plangent sadness that comes from trying very hard to work for good in the real world, where your actions are constrained in a thousand small and large ways, where you just have to keep going and take the tiny wins where you can.
The humor is totally my jam:
And the moments of pathos--my heart:
This story also has the distinction of being the one and only story I've ever read that has a dark moment that seems totally legitimate and meaningful to me, in which I understand and believe in the betraying character's actions and understand and believe in the betrayed character's reaction. I felt so sorry for the pain the one character felt but totally understood why it has to happen. Until now, dark moments have only ever been, for me, a horrible convention, one I abhorred. But in this story, it made me appreciate the lovers all the more. The final HEA felt all the more triumphant.
If you are fond of committed, principled people working in and for a flawed state, if you like British humor and stories of love and human awkwardness--oh, and this is a m/m romance, if that matters to you--and if you are prepared to weep and rejoice for the characters, well then this is a story for you!
The humor is totally my jam:
"I'm Eilidh, I'm the lawyer," she said, in the tone of one confessing a regrettable disease.
"Good question," Ari said, and Jules imagined what the minute would look like. Diggory asked a good question."
Diggory was away at a training session on Handling Vexatious Correspondence.
"Everyone sends me memos," Ari said, looking up in surprise. "I don't want them. I want to make completely uninformed policy based on whatever I feel like."
And the moments of pathos--my heart:
Ari tasted saltwater, like grief ... "We have tried to change things for the better," Ari said, through a wash of something that felt like drowning. "We try, and what we get is the Acts. All we ever get is more to do. All we ever get is requiem."
This story also has the distinction of being the one and only story I've ever read that has a dark moment that seems totally legitimate and meaningful to me, in which I understand and believe in the betraying character's actions and understand and believe in the betrayed character's reaction. I felt so sorry for the pain the one character felt but totally understood why it has to happen. Until now, dark moments have only ever been, for me, a horrible convention, one I abhorred. But in this story, it made me appreciate the lovers all the more. The final HEA felt all the more triumphant.
If you are fond of committed, principled people working in and for a flawed state, if you like British humor and stories of love and human awkwardness--oh, and this is a m/m romance, if that matters to you--and if you are prepared to weep and rejoice for the characters, well then this is a story for you!
December 5, 2020
A glorious elegiac story about what it takes to work for change in a political system that resists you at every turn, and to find unexpected love while doing it. Ari, a career civil servant, and Jules, a spad or ‘special advisor’, are a beautifully underplayed central pairing. Please give me more like this.
August 15, 2021
I've been meaning to read iona's books for a while now, enjoyed it a lot!
rep: bi indian mc, gay mc
rep: bi indian mc, gay mc
October 13, 2020
“Jules's father, Lord Elwin of Evesham, had wanted his son to go into the church. This being impossible on account of the boy's temperament and homosexuality, following his father's footsteps into Parliament was the next best thing."
A romance set amid the inner workings of public policy and legislation is deeply tailored to my interests, although honestly anyone who doesn't enjoy melodramatic queers bickering over the finer points of clean energy regulation doesn't know how to live. Beautifully written, dancing between moments of comedy and heartache, and a romance where conflicts arise from deeply-felt matters of principle, I loved every word.
A romance set amid the inner workings of public policy and legislation is deeply tailored to my interests, although honestly anyone who doesn't enjoy melodramatic queers bickering over the finer points of clean energy regulation doesn't know how to live. Beautifully written, dancing between moments of comedy and heartache, and a romance where conflicts arise from deeply-felt matters of principle, I loved every word.
October 25, 2020
That's a delightful, somewhat melancholy story. it's a low-heat London-set contemporary political romance, focused the the legal and administrative side of policy-making in the UK, rather than on ideology. Exquisitely written and heart-warming in the truest sense of the word.
Highly recommend!
CW for grief
Highly recommend!
CW for grief
January 31, 2021
what this said it would be: queer political romance!!
what it was: 95% dry ass politics, 5% queer romance
I have a politics degree and this was even too much for me; I wanted more of the characters and their romance because it seemed rushed and not well developed
what it was: 95% dry ass politics, 5% queer romance
I have a politics degree and this was even too much for me; I wanted more of the characters and their romance because it seemed rushed and not well developed
May 17, 2022
Dislike-to-lovers, government, British-Indian MC. A civil servant and a special advisor clash then fall in love in the aftermath of Brexit. There's grief, class differences and a remarkable amount of detail on the process of passing legislation, which was surprisingly never boring? Sharma could've extended this novella by padding the story at several points , but instead she kept the story lean without lessening the emotional impact.
Recommended for readers with some interest in government or legislation.
Recommended for readers with some interest in government or legislation.
November 6, 2020
Jules's father, Lord Elwin of Evesham, had wanted his son to go into the church. This being impossible on account of the boy's temperament and homosexuality, following his father's footsteps into Parliament was the next best thing.
Ahhh, such a soft, kind, lovely novella. I loved the dynamics between the characters, the dual perspective and the setting so so much. Just a perfect little cake bite.
I know the characters were being overworked to the point of exhaustion, but it made me wanna do the Fast Stream even more.
I will definitely read anything Sharma publishes next.
Ahhh, such a soft, kind, lovely novella. I loved the dynamics between the characters, the dual perspective and the setting so so much. Just a perfect little cake bite.
I know the characters were being overworked to the point of exhaustion, but it made me wanna do the Fast Stream even more.
I will definitely read anything Sharma publishes next.
October 12, 2020
So when Iona called Division Bells a soft political romance, they meant soft because, oh my heart.
Division Bells was exactly the super short, super sweet read I needed right now. And while my brain kind of turned to goo when reading about the political processes (lots of fossils, if you get my drift), the uptight Ari with his gruff manor and sly humor and cinnamon roll Jules who just wants to take care of Ari and make a difference were totally worth it.
Iona does an amazing job of packing so much humor, character, and heart into such a small package. I definitely recommend.
CW: Death of a friend (off-page, previous to story), toxic parenting.
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Division Bells was exactly the super short, super sweet read I needed right now. And while my brain kind of turned to goo when reading about the political processes (lots of fossils, if you get my drift), the uptight Ari with his gruff manor and sly humor and cinnamon roll Jules who just wants to take care of Ari and make a difference were totally worth it.
Iona does an amazing job of packing so much humor, character, and heart into such a small package. I definitely recommend.
CW: Death of a friend (off-page, previous to story), toxic parenting.
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
March 22, 2024
Charming. I word I overuse, possibly because it's my highest compliment.
Won me over in spite of lashings of Governmental Procedure, which however give lots of atmosphere and the specificity of setting I so greatly appreciate. Glad I stumbled across this author.
Won me over in spite of lashings of Governmental Procedure, which however give lots of atmosphere and the specificity of setting I so greatly appreciate. Glad I stumbled across this author.
January 11, 2022
So wonky to start
As Jules changes, it turns
Sweet, swoony, and smart.
As Jules changes, it turns
Sweet, swoony, and smart.
January 14, 2022
Division Bells by Iona Datt Sharma is a short, sweet and very, very well written m/m workplace romance set in the British Houses of Parliament. Our protagonists are Ari, a career bureaucrat, and Jules, a Special Advisor to the minister, or spad. They meet when Jules is taken on by the minister whose department Ari works in, and…well, bills get read, lots of memos get written, people eat macaroons, drink drinks, and Ari and Jules find their way to love and understanding.
This is a very deftly written book. I’ve read some of Datt Sharma’s nonfiction ( this is a particular favourite) and short stories before, and so I wasn’t surprised by how well written and put together the whole story was.
This is a nicely paced story, we move along from day and day and event to event quite swiftly. And there are some truly lovely sentences scattered through out the text. I mean look at this: ’The dawn was dimmed by winter, as though the city had been dipped in glacé icing overnight.’ isn’t that just lovely? :)
I was surprised by how much information about the bill procedures they’ve seeded into 81 pages, without compromising on character or romance.
The best type of romance makes the reader fall a little in love with the MCs, and Division Bells certainly achieved that. Ari and Jules are very well drawn, and their romance is believable. Also, I wanted to give them both a hug, like, constantly. I do wish I could have seen more of Ari and Jules together in the first half of the book though. But all in all, this is an excellent 4 stars.
Oh, and special thanks to Iona for making me understand what a spad actually is. I’m glad to know they’re not all about destroying democracy and getting eye tests during pandemics.
This is a very deftly written book. I’ve read some of Datt Sharma’s nonfiction ( this is a particular favourite) and short stories before, and so I wasn’t surprised by how well written and put together the whole story was.
This is a nicely paced story, we move along from day and day and event to event quite swiftly. And there are some truly lovely sentences scattered through out the text. I mean look at this: ’The dawn was dimmed by winter, as though the city had been dipped in glacé icing overnight.’ isn’t that just lovely? :)
I was surprised by how much information about the bill procedures they’ve seeded into 81 pages, without compromising on character or romance.
"I can't," Ari said, not quite sure what he was saying. "I can't have you here."
It was true, once he'd managed to get the words out. He couldn't have this man – bright-eyed, lovely, flushed with cold – in his living room, saying things like let me look after you a little.
The best type of romance makes the reader fall a little in love with the MCs, and Division Bells certainly achieved that. Ari and Jules are very well drawn, and their romance is believable. Also, I wanted to give them both a hug, like, constantly. I do wish I could have seen more of Ari and Jules together in the first half of the book though. But all in all, this is an excellent 4 stars.
Oh, and special thanks to Iona for making me understand what a spad actually is. I’m glad to know they’re not all about destroying democracy and getting eye tests during pandemics.
February 26, 2023
"regional infrastructure said if we didn't get the final bill documentation across to them today they'd come over and have us shot."
"does anyone round here," jules said, "not operatically overreact to everything?"
the veriest treat! sought out due to reading and enjoying datt sharma's entry "st anselm-by-the-riverside" in consolation songs , of which they were also the editor.
I think I could handily get into a series set in this world (which is, to be clear, the real world of the day-to-day running of british politics) the way a swath of americans of a certain generation and political bent were into the west wing lol. datt sharma's got humor and bite and "love like the weight of earth" alike!!
"[she's] nice, but she's not you[...] by which I mean, she's nice. she's friendly and she never asks anyone if they were born this idiotic or do they work at it."
I do so love these queer [and/or] trans authors of modern sensibility who write queer romance in a variety of configurations; "st anselm" was f/f, this is m/m, and I look forward to a continued perusal of datt sharma's back catalogue to see what else there is to see. :')
"you weren't actually together, though?" [...]
"no. [...] not after a while, but it wasn't less important, if you can understand that."
"yes. [...] very modern way to live, I think. very grown-up, very queer."
[...] "I, ah, I don't think I've ever told you—"
"I can see your bookcases from here[...] you've got, ooh, the well of loneliness, gender trouble, the charioteer and, how pretty, something about the folsom street fair."
[...] "fine, yes."
new-to-me vocabulary:
strathspey
au fait (as used in english)
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