8.8 /10 1 Votes
Originally published 1986 Genre Autobiographical Fiction | 4.4/5 Goodreads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teardrops on My Drum is an autobiographical novel of Jack Robinson's boyhood in Liverpool, UK, in the 1930s (ISBN 0-85449-261-5, Gay Men's Press, 1998). It is a story of the sexual adventures of a young gay boy growing up in poverty and with parental neglect.
Teardrops on my Drum tells Jackie Robinson’s story up to the age of fourteen. Eddie, a man who has sex with him in a cinema, turns out to be a police officer who continues to have a consensual loving relationship with him. Jackie has sexual encounters with older men, mature teenagers, and boys.
Jackie goes through a series of casual relationships, searching out new partners, then signs up and joins the army. Army life suits Jackie and he forms an intimate relationship with two other recruits, Chesty and Toby, in his regiment.