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Any Human Face
Andrew Caruso has been a second-hand-book dealer in Rome for thirty years when a collection of old photographs changes his life forever. He finds the photos among the possessions of his ex-lover, Michel; the images - possibly from police archives - are fascinating, but when Andrew and his art-critic friend Daniela decide to launch an exhibition, the shop is raided the day before the opening and the display seized with surprising violence. In his quest to understand the significance of the pictures, Andrew crosses paths with Alessandro, a journalist who knows more about their history than Andrew can imagine. But Alessandro offers hope, as well as information: hope, in a world where kidnap, subterfuge and even murder are the norm; a world of criminal intrigue in which no one is safe, or above suspicion. Meanwhile, in a cellar, a kidnapped girl hopes desperately for rescue.
Part thriller, part love story, Charles Lambert's second novel is both gripping and exhilarating; brilliant and hard-edged, it clearly marks Lambert as a name to note.
'Charles Lambert writes as if his life depends on it. He takes risks at every turn' - Hannah Tinti.
Part thriller, part love story, Charles Lambert's second novel is both gripping and exhilarating; brilliant and hard-edged, it clearly marks Lambert as a name to note.
'Charles Lambert writes as if his life depends on it. He takes risks at every turn' - Hannah Tinti.
323 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
85 people want to read
About the author
Charles Lambert
82 books203 followersCharles Lambert was born in the United Kingdom but has lived in Italy for most of his adult life. His most recent novel is Birthright, set in Rome in the 1980s and examining what happens when two young women discover that they are identical twins, separated at birth. In 2022, he published The Bone Flower, a Gothic love story with a sinister edge, set in Victorian London. His previous novel, Prodigal, shortlisted for the Polari Prize in 2019, was described by the Gay & Lesbian Review as "Powerful… an artful hybrid of parable (as the title signifies), a Freudian family romance, a Gothic tale, and a Künstlerroman in the tradition of James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” For the Kirkus Review, The Children's Home, published in 2016, was 'a one-of-a-kind literary horror story', while Two Dark Tales, published in October 2017, continues to disturb. Earlier books include three novels, a collection of prize-winning short stories and a memoir, With a Zero at its Heart, selected by the Guardian as one of its top ten books from 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 25, 2016
[I'm bringing back this review in support of author Charles Lambert's new novel
A View from the Tower
]
Christopher Moore should write a gay James Bond. Or maybe I should. Film rights would be snapped up in a jiffy. Stick around, kids, I’m tossing out million-dollar ideas like condoms at a Pride Parade. Charles Lambert’s new novel Any Human Face is being called in the U.K. press a thriller “set on the seamier fringe of Rome’s gay scene.” However, if you come to Any Human Face expecting The Bourne Gay-Identity, you’ll be disappointed. If you come looking for weighty, believable human drama set within multi-layered political intrigue, then you’ve turned the right page.
I think that the Guardian’s description of the setting as “the seamier fringe of Rome’s gay scene” is a bit o’ backhanded homophobia. Yes, there is a character who shoots some “pornographic” photography and probably video, too, but he’s rather a Mother Hen type who takes care of any stray (gay or bird) off the street. He’s more on the noble side than the seamy side, and the main relationships in the story are quite sensitive, not sleazy. All the sleaze (murders) are political and unrelated to sexual identity. Yes, there are some graphic sexual moments but only to reflect what occurs in real relationships. I mean, like…you’ve done it, right, squire?
I would describe this novel rather as a thoughtful character study of a quirky gay bookstore owner and sometime art/antiquity dealer named Andrew in Rome who stumbles into a political vipers nest involving high-level politicians and Vatican officials doing very bad things. At its core, the story is about Andrew’s struggle to overcome heartbreak from his past and learn to love again. This book being a literary work and not a hack best-seller, Lambert manages to integrate some thoughtful commentary on writing, art, and photography as well by having the main character try to set up an art show in his bookstore. Lambert creates an interesting juxtaposition between theory/critique and reality through this art show. The co-curator of the show expresses a complex gibberish of analysis to explain how the photographs in the exhibit are “Art.” When the reality is that one of the photographs reveals an actual crime being committed; it’s a performative photograph, if you will, that is FUCKING EVIDENCE OF A (crime i will not identify so as not to spoil it but you can probably guess). So…ehem..fuck your critique. Of course, Lambert isn’t anti-intellectual, but he certainly shows how literary and art theory can tie itself up in a knot of incestuous bullcrap.
Just as in his short stories, Lambert doesn’t grandstand as a writer, rather he creates a compelling reality and allows the characters to express themselves naturally. I found Andrew to be absolutely convincing as a real human being. Although the book is not as fast paced as you might expect a thriller to be, when Andrew was in actual physical danger in the story, my heart was racing, and I couldn’t put the book down.
Any Human Face has quite a few interesting characters, including the Mother Hen character I mentioned before who dresses like a “tribal queen or brothel keeper” in swathes of flowery curtain-pajamas. And the bitchiest rich hag of an art-gallery maven you’ll ever come across. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as a taste of Rome and the inner life and struggles of Andrew to make a life for himself despite his fears of aging, of failing, and more than anything else, of being lonely.
Christopher Moore should write a gay James Bond. Or maybe I should. Film rights would be snapped up in a jiffy. Stick around, kids, I’m tossing out million-dollar ideas like condoms at a Pride Parade. Charles Lambert’s new novel Any Human Face is being called in the U.K. press a thriller “set on the seamier fringe of Rome’s gay scene.” However, if you come to Any Human Face expecting The Bourne Gay-Identity, you’ll be disappointed. If you come looking for weighty, believable human drama set within multi-layered political intrigue, then you’ve turned the right page.
I think that the Guardian’s description of the setting as “the seamier fringe of Rome’s gay scene” is a bit o’ backhanded homophobia. Yes, there is a character who shoots some “pornographic” photography and probably video, too, but he’s rather a Mother Hen type who takes care of any stray (gay or bird) off the street. He’s more on the noble side than the seamy side, and the main relationships in the story are quite sensitive, not sleazy. All the sleaze (murders) are political and unrelated to sexual identity. Yes, there are some graphic sexual moments but only to reflect what occurs in real relationships. I mean, like…you’ve done it, right, squire?
I would describe this novel rather as a thoughtful character study of a quirky gay bookstore owner and sometime art/antiquity dealer named Andrew in Rome who stumbles into a political vipers nest involving high-level politicians and Vatican officials doing very bad things. At its core, the story is about Andrew’s struggle to overcome heartbreak from his past and learn to love again. This book being a literary work and not a hack best-seller, Lambert manages to integrate some thoughtful commentary on writing, art, and photography as well by having the main character try to set up an art show in his bookstore. Lambert creates an interesting juxtaposition between theory/critique and reality through this art show. The co-curator of the show expresses a complex gibberish of analysis to explain how the photographs in the exhibit are “Art.” When the reality is that one of the photographs reveals an actual crime being committed; it’s a performative photograph, if you will, that is FUCKING EVIDENCE OF A (crime i will not identify so as not to spoil it but you can probably guess). So…ehem..fuck your critique. Of course, Lambert isn’t anti-intellectual, but he certainly shows how literary and art theory can tie itself up in a knot of incestuous bullcrap.
Just as in his short stories, Lambert doesn’t grandstand as a writer, rather he creates a compelling reality and allows the characters to express themselves naturally. I found Andrew to be absolutely convincing as a real human being. Although the book is not as fast paced as you might expect a thriller to be, when Andrew was in actual physical danger in the story, my heart was racing, and I couldn’t put the book down.
Any Human Face has quite a few interesting characters, including the Mother Hen character I mentioned before who dresses like a “tribal queen or brothel keeper” in swathes of flowery curtain-pajamas. And the bitchiest rich hag of an art-gallery maven you’ll ever come across. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as a taste of Rome and the inner life and struggles of Andrew to make a life for himself despite his fears of aging, of failing, and more than anything else, of being lonely.
November 17, 2012
I feel a bit awkward about giving low ratings to books by Goodreads authors... sorry if anything I say offends. My opinion appears to definitely be a minority one, so perhaps you shouldn't pay too much attention to it :)
Any Human Face opens with a line from Marilynne Robinson's The Gilead:
Any human face is a claim on you, because you can't help but understand the singularity of it, the courage and loneliness of it.
I mulled over this for quite a while before starting the book. It's a rich quote, and one that signals that Any Human Face seeks to be something more than a stock gay thriller. It probably succeeds in this, but maybe to its detriment.
I had some major issues with this novel....
1. Although the lead characters, Alex and Andrew, were very different men, this didn't come through to me in the writing. As perspective shifted from one to the other, and particularly when it shifted from past to present, I struggled to differentiate them. They seemed to blend into a single unit.
I hope I'm not spoiling anything by saying that the two men come together in the end (it doesn't take a genius to predict!). Maybe the author had deliberately set out to highlight the similarities between them, so that when they finally do come together their personalities mesh to become a bigger, greater, whole. As a love story, this really worked... as a thriller, it interfered with the pacing. I needed to be instantly at step with each character as each chapter began, but this didn't happen. It regularly took me a few paragraphs to settle my mind around what plot thread was happening to which character.
2. I struggled to accept the logic of some of the book's central precepts.
3. The mystery was.........
So yes, I had some major issues with this book, but it wasn't all bad.
Any Human Face was riddled with excellent minor characters. The Birdman, Martin, Alina, Daniela... they were all wonderfully drawn. And whilst I had issues with the content, the writing itself is good. I never felt like abandoning the book: on the contrary, it was easy to keep reading. Certainly enough for 2 stars. And certainly enough for me to want to read another Lambert novel.
Any Human Face opens with a line from Marilynne Robinson's The Gilead:
Any human face is a claim on you, because you can't help but understand the singularity of it, the courage and loneliness of it.
I mulled over this for quite a while before starting the book. It's a rich quote, and one that signals that Any Human Face seeks to be something more than a stock gay thriller. It probably succeeds in this, but maybe to its detriment.
I had some major issues with this novel....
1. Although the lead characters, Alex and Andrew, were very different men, this didn't come through to me in the writing. As perspective shifted from one to the other, and particularly when it shifted from past to present, I struggled to differentiate them. They seemed to blend into a single unit.
I hope I'm not spoiling anything by saying that the two men come together in the end (it doesn't take a genius to predict!). Maybe the author had deliberately set out to highlight the similarities between them, so that when they finally do come together their personalities mesh to become a bigger, greater, whole. As a love story, this really worked... as a thriller, it interfered with the pacing. I needed to be instantly at step with each character as each chapter began, but this didn't happen. It regularly took me a few paragraphs to settle my mind around what plot thread was happening to which character.
2. I struggled to accept the logic of some of the book's central precepts.
3. The mystery was.........
So yes, I had some major issues with this book, but it wasn't all bad.
Any Human Face was riddled with excellent minor characters. The Birdman, Martin, Alina, Daniela... they were all wonderfully drawn. And whilst I had issues with the content, the writing itself is good. I never felt like abandoning the book: on the contrary, it was easy to keep reading. Certainly enough for 2 stars. And certainly enough for me to want to read another Lambert novel.
did-not-finish
February 19, 2024Gestopt na 101 blz. (31%) Het boek wist me niet te boeien en ik vond het nogal warrig. Alex en Andrew kon ik amper uit elkaar houden en de schrijfstijl nam me niet mee in het verhaal. Ik merkte dat ik op den duur begon te scannen en te denken aan andere boeken waar ik liever mijn tijd in wil steken, dus blijkbaar is dit gewoon niet het juiste boek voor mij.
May 9, 2013
A very enjoyable, low-key thriller, set in Rome, about the discovery of a set of mysterious photographs which seem to bring bad luck to anyone who has the misfortune of getting near them. Well, not bad luck so much as bad guys, who want the photographs destroyed and don't hesitate to kill for them. The portrayal of both protagonists as well as the minor characters is nuanced and believable. Rome, one of my favorite cities, comes alive beautifully.
This is not your run-of-the-mill-thriller with a neatly wrapped up ending. There are no explanations, just hints as to what might have happened, which works very well here. It's grim and dark, and I was glad there was a happy ending at least in the romance department, which shows just how much I was rooting for these characters.
This is not your run-of-the-mill-thriller with a neatly wrapped up ending. There are no explanations, just hints as to what might have happened, which works very well here. It's grim and dark, and I was glad there was a happy ending at least in the romance department, which shows just how much I was rooting for these characters.
November 1, 2012
Very much enjoyed this complex and beautifully written book. Some reviews have called it an Italian gay thriller. Yes, it is...but it has far greater depths and understanding of the human state than that implies. Intricate murky worlds of crime, and some wonderful, almost Dickensian, grotesques revolve around a quest for friendship, acceptance and love. You may begin this book thinking you know where the corruption lies. You will end it with your eyes opened up to something far more sinister and infinitely less palatable.
July 29, 2012
For me, this was more about love and friendship than a thriller, though the mystery around the photographs is gripping. At first I found the time shifts a little dislocating, but once the threads weave themselves together and the narrative begins to gel I couldn't put it down. Charles Lambert's writing is wonderfully controlled and relaxed at the same time. Dizzying, thrilling, funny, sad and sexy, I give this book four and a half. And it makes you long to go back to Rome.
August 17, 2013
I read it all in one go, so perfect was the construction of the narrative and the unfolding of the characters over the decades. One of the main themes about the ubiquity, but at the same time, the curious power that visual images retain is impressively well done. And the portrait of the thoroughly nasty art curator is hilarious and perfectly accurate in my experience.
July 27, 2012
Really enjoyed this book.
I just enjoyed it, the story, the way it is written.
just generally loved it
nothing else to say
I just enjoyed it, the story, the way it is written.
just generally loved it
nothing else to say
January 16, 2022
DNF, not for me.
January 28, 2019
I picked this book up on a whim from the discount section at a local book store. I like to get a feel for some new authors and genres that I might not have read otherwise. This book was one of the few in that category that I really enjoyed; it was a pleasant surprise.
As far as LGBTQ fiction goes, I haven't read very much, but it was a refreshing change of pace. I felt the characters were handled realistically and respectfully, which felt nice as a reader.
The setting of Rome was interesting, and although I've never been, it felt like a realistic depiction. That in and of itself was pretty interesting, and helped me to keep with the book. Not that it was a problem, after a bit of a slow start, I definitely wanted to see the book through after I was about a quarter through.
The writing was somewhere between decent and good. There were certain passages or descriptors I really enjoyed (but forgot to flag to eventually add to this review), and the rest was always alright at minimum.
My biggest complaint with the book was the abrupt, slightly cheesy ending. It felt like another 25 pages could have really added a lot to the book, whether or not that included our main characters. Perhaps the author would say that
All in all, this was a pleasant, engaging read! I would recommend to those who would be interested in a novel set in Rome or a slightly unconventional romance story.
As far as LGBTQ fiction goes, I haven't read very much, but it was a refreshing change of pace. I felt the characters were handled realistically and respectfully, which felt nice as a reader.
The setting of Rome was interesting, and although I've never been, it felt like a realistic depiction. That in and of itself was pretty interesting, and helped me to keep with the book. Not that it was a problem, after a bit of a slow start, I definitely wanted to see the book through after I was about a quarter through.
The writing was somewhere between decent and good. There were certain passages or descriptors I really enjoyed (but forgot to flag to eventually add to this review), and the rest was always alright at minimum.
My biggest complaint with the book was the abrupt, slightly cheesy ending. It felt like another 25 pages could have really added a lot to the book, whether or not that included our main characters. Perhaps the author would say that
All in all, this was a pleasant, engaging read! I would recommend to those who would be interested in a novel set in Rome or a slightly unconventional romance story.
January 1, 2023
Years ago I picked up The Children's Home and absolutely adored it. I then sought out every book Charles Lambert had ever written - most of which had never been published in America and had to be ordered from England... and then I stopped reading.
Now I'm reading again, through pure force of will, and I'm tackling my pile of imported Charles Lamberts.
This was a quiet little book, and I can see why some reviewers were turned off by a lack of conflict or conclusion. But I loved it. The photographs are a maguffin in the truest sense of the word, and the real story is about the people whose lives they brush up against over the decades. It reminds me of Station Eleven - a book I really, really love - with its close focus on characters, joined purely by chance, as they grapple with something bigger than them.
I refrained from giving this five stars because it wasn't exactly in the top echelon of stuff I've read (not even of Lambert's stuff I've read), but I did really enjoy it, and I'm glad I finally got down to reading it.
Now I'm reading again, through pure force of will, and I'm tackling my pile of imported Charles Lamberts.
This was a quiet little book, and I can see why some reviewers were turned off by a lack of conflict or conclusion. But I loved it. The photographs are a maguffin in the truest sense of the word, and the real story is about the people whose lives they brush up against over the decades. It reminds me of Station Eleven - a book I really, really love - with its close focus on characters, joined purely by chance, as they grapple with something bigger than them.
I refrained from giving this five stars because it wasn't exactly in the top echelon of stuff I've read (not even of Lambert's stuff I've read), but I did really enjoy it, and I'm glad I finally got down to reading it.
March 11, 2021
Pointless gay love story, expecting something which clearly never came
dnf
June 13, 2025I just don’t like the main character I tried to continue but I can’t. No rating since I don’t finish it.
November 14, 2011
In 1983 Alex is asked by his mentor and lover Bruno to hold on to a few bags for him for a few days. When Alex returns to Bruno’s place after taking the bags to his own apartment he finds Bruno murdered and mutilated. Scared, Alex decides he has to get rid of the bags, which turn out to contain photo’s and sells them to a young photographer.
In a plot line that initially appears unrelated, a young girl, who is not named, is kidnapped at an unidentified time for reasons that are unclear to her and the reader.
In 2008, Andrew Caruso owner of a second hand bookshop in Rome finds some bags which used to belong to a lover of his who died, apparently by suicide, years ago. The bags contain mug-shots, photos of crime-scenes and other photographs, clearly from police archives. In honour of his former lover Andrew decides to show the photographs in an exhibition, but shortly before the show is due to open official looking man enter Andrew’s place, confiscate everything they can find and take Andrew away to an unknown destination.
Why are these photographs so sensitive after all these years, who is afraid of having them shown in public, and how will Andrew get himself out of this mess he unwittingly landed himself into?
This is a literary thriller if ever I read one. Yes, the story features murder, unexplained deaths and kidnapping, but they are not the main points of interest for the author. Charles Lambert is far more interested in the inner lives of his characters, their thoughts, feelings and lifestyles.
Set in the gay scene in Rome, this book pictures a rather seedy community where love is often not the main reason for people being together and where most are looking after number one. However, it is also a place where the few real friends you have will do almost anything to help you and where acts of unselfishness stand out a mile.
Anyone reading the blurb on the back of the book would expect to be landed in the middle of the action almost immediately upon opening the book, which is not the case. The lead up to the raid on Andrew’s place takes about half the book. However, that lead up is well used by the author to establish the characters and to give the reader some clues as to what may or may not be going on with the photos. This leads to the reader having an advantage over the characters in the book, but only a slight one. And by the time the book ends, this is still the case. Not all questions are conclusively answered by the author. Some interpretations are left up to the reader, which pleased me because it gave the story a realistic feel which is often missing from the thrillers I read.
A fascinating book, if a bit off the beaten track, which had me thinking about the story for some time after I finished reading it.
In a plot line that initially appears unrelated, a young girl, who is not named, is kidnapped at an unidentified time for reasons that are unclear to her and the reader.
In 2008, Andrew Caruso owner of a second hand bookshop in Rome finds some bags which used to belong to a lover of his who died, apparently by suicide, years ago. The bags contain mug-shots, photos of crime-scenes and other photographs, clearly from police archives. In honour of his former lover Andrew decides to show the photographs in an exhibition, but shortly before the show is due to open official looking man enter Andrew’s place, confiscate everything they can find and take Andrew away to an unknown destination.
Why are these photographs so sensitive after all these years, who is afraid of having them shown in public, and how will Andrew get himself out of this mess he unwittingly landed himself into?
This is a literary thriller if ever I read one. Yes, the story features murder, unexplained deaths and kidnapping, but they are not the main points of interest for the author. Charles Lambert is far more interested in the inner lives of his characters, their thoughts, feelings and lifestyles.
Set in the gay scene in Rome, this book pictures a rather seedy community where love is often not the main reason for people being together and where most are looking after number one. However, it is also a place where the few real friends you have will do almost anything to help you and where acts of unselfishness stand out a mile.
Anyone reading the blurb on the back of the book would expect to be landed in the middle of the action almost immediately upon opening the book, which is not the case. The lead up to the raid on Andrew’s place takes about half the book. However, that lead up is well used by the author to establish the characters and to give the reader some clues as to what may or may not be going on with the photos. This leads to the reader having an advantage over the characters in the book, but only a slight one. And by the time the book ends, this is still the case. Not all questions are conclusively answered by the author. Some interpretations are left up to the reader, which pleased me because it gave the story a realistic feel which is often missing from the thrillers I read.
A fascinating book, if a bit off the beaten track, which had me thinking about the story for some time after I finished reading it.
October 20, 2013
"A noir novel set in Rome"
Any Human Face by Charles Lambert is set in the bleaker backwaters of Rome, on the edges of the gay community, each chapter like a snapshot in black and white. The Leitmotiv throughout the novel is a collection of photographs of convicts, which passes from one hand to another and eventually ends up in the possession of Andrew Caruso, who runs a delapidated book shop La Piccola Libreria, in the city. Moving between the 1980s and 2008, the photographic quality of the chapters serves to highlight the intrinsic isolation of many of the colourful characters who breeze in and out of the storyline, all the while set against a lurking presence of menace. The storyline and characters sometimes have a Pasolini-like quality, which really anchors the novel in the Eternal City.
And from this book we discovered the restaurant “L'obitorio" un classico di Trastevere which serves pizza "piu' buona di Roma” - Bruno and Alex drop in early on in the book. Has anyone been there, what did you think?
Any Human Face by Charles Lambert is set in the bleaker backwaters of Rome, on the edges of the gay community, each chapter like a snapshot in black and white. The Leitmotiv throughout the novel is a collection of photographs of convicts, which passes from one hand to another and eventually ends up in the possession of Andrew Caruso, who runs a delapidated book shop La Piccola Libreria, in the city. Moving between the 1980s and 2008, the photographic quality of the chapters serves to highlight the intrinsic isolation of many of the colourful characters who breeze in and out of the storyline, all the while set against a lurking presence of menace. The storyline and characters sometimes have a Pasolini-like quality, which really anchors the novel in the Eternal City.
And from this book we discovered the restaurant “L'obitorio" un classico di Trastevere which serves pizza "piu' buona di Roma” - Bruno and Alex drop in early on in the book. Has anyone been there, what did you think?
September 29, 2016
I really enjoyed this. It's a very well written tale with surprising twists and turns. In Rome, Alex is given some photographs for safekeeping by his older lover, Bruno. They turn out to be a poisoned chalice. There are gripping episodes, especially when Andrew is held prisoner and intimated by nameless thugs. There are touching episodes, narrated without sentiment but very movingly. It amounts to a kind story about human trajectories and intersections, about chance, friendship, loss and love.
November 1, 2012
Rome set crime/thriller with a lot of gay characters. First half there was a lot to take in, then I got frustrated with one of the main characters in the second part of the novel. Parts of it were good, and it was competently written.
April 27, 2015
A man finds some “crime scene” photographs that may involve senior people.
The narrative was jumbled (I found it difficult to distinguish between the different characters and time periods), the plot seemed to drift along and the end wasn’t clear.
The narrative was jumbled (I found it difficult to distinguish between the different characters and time periods), the plot seemed to drift along and the end wasn’t clear.
September 28, 2015
I liked this. Quite a lot, the writing of it, the insights into the several characters. The (apparent) randomness of scenes. But did find it hard to follow in places. If it stays in my head for a bit, as I suspect it might, then I'll know it's deserving of four stars, and will upgrade it.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews