Description
Crocodile Soup by Julia Darling is an offbeat, witty novel blending surreal family drama with a tender, unconventional LGBT love story. The narrative follows Gert Hardcastle, a thirty-something museum curator obsessed with Egyptian artefacts and perpetually unlucky in love. When she falls for the enigmatic Eva, who serves coffee at the museum’s cafeteria, Gert’s quiet life is upended in both poignant and hilarious ways. As she pursues this new connection, the story unfolds through vivid, often surreal flashbacks of her eccentric childhood — from her telepathic bond with her obsessive twin brother Frank to her vain, neglectful mother and the ghost of a Victorian poet haunting their home.
Darling’s narrative is rich in dry humour, giddy self-deprecation, and bittersweet reflection, offering a sharp and tender exploration of longing, loneliness, and identity. With a Goodreads rating of 3.48, Crocodile Soup has gained a loyal following for its quirky characters and heartfelt storytelling. It’s an engaging piece of LGBT fiction that celebrates the strange, flawed, and quietly hopeful corners of life.
Crocodile Soup is ideal for readers of contemporary LGBT fiction who appreciate dark humour, eccentric characters, and beautifully awkward love stories.
