"[...] looking out of the window, knowing for certain then that nothing would ever be the same. The house which had been my home for years seemed like a badly made toy of no use to me now, and my mother and father were two ill-matched puppets with foolish eyes and painted smiles, to be left discarded in a box.

"And in the glass I seemed to see my own reflection, only it was changed from what it had been before. The awkwardness of my heavy build seemed to drop away and then return, only now in the way I stood, the way I held my head, and more of all tin the way I felt deep inside, I knew I was the stranger.

"The young man Mum, Dad, Steve, and even Linda saw as Jumbo no longer existed. It was as if I'd shed a skin in order to show myself better, only in the knowledge I'd grown older." (p 71)

Martin Conway is 18. Until now Martin has been known as Jumbo, your unprepossessing, bog-standard, clumsy, gentle giant. One day, as the A Levels exams that will mark the end of a chapter of his life loom, his eye is caught by the cute, fleet forward of the rugby team opposing Martin's in the last match of the season. Nothing happens between them, other than a few intense looks, but nevertheless something switches in Martin that day, and the stranger that has been sleeping within him for ever suddenly awakens from his slumber, demanding to be heard and to be set free.

Having to navigate his own fluctuating feelings and the oppressive strictures put on him by his uncommunicative parents, his laddish friends and society as a whole, Martin has some growing-up to do, and fast, particularly when he suddenly realises how much he fancies Richard, his class' brainbox, who seems to be reciprocating his interest. The journey is not always pretty and Martin doesn't always cover himself in glory but he eventually manages to reconcile himself with the stranger within, and come to peace with his feelings.

Every coming out experience is different and unique but Who Lies Inside sensitively and thoughtfully covers and explains the issues raised by such a defining moment in a gay man's life. Ireland is perhaps at times a little didactic and the stranger inside gimmick is almost (though not quite) overdone, but, quite amazingly, almost 40 years on, the book still feels completely relevant.

The narrative is linear and quite simple, covering a few weeks in the life of its protagonist, but the characters feel true to life and the writing flows beautifully, deftly setting "normal" and queer experiences into counterpoint to denounce received "wisdoms" about the perceived virtues and merits of each.

The book dwells in particular on the social pressures that force people, and especially men, to conform to certain expected models of behaviour. Ireland is adept at putting into relief the most toxic elements of masculinity. While he adroitly presents the alienating effects the realisation of one's homosexuality can have on an individual, at least temporarily, he also shows how the experience engenders an uncanny sense of perspective onto otherwise unexplored and unquestioned social mores.

If it were published now, this classic coming-out, jock/nerd, novella, that mostly focuses on the jock's inner journey of self-discovery, would be filed under the YA category. But this short sweet book is surprisingly rich and rewarding, and more successful in its genre than many other coming-out stories. It is a forgotten gem that deserves more recognition in the gay canon.