When I heard Quite the Pair was being billed as Tobias Madden’s first book “for adults”, I did a double take.
I discovered Madden through his debut, Anything But Fine, and devoured the whole thing in a single weekend. I finished it obsessed with whatever he was going to do next.
That obsession sent me into Dymocks, in the middle of Sydney’s CBD, to ask a staff member for a copy of Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell, Madden’s second novel. I was mildly embarrassed to be walked straight downstairs to the children’s section.
It was only then I learned Anything But Fine, Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell and Wrong Answers Only are all shelved as young adult fiction. Regardless, I loved all three, and they hold a special place in my heart.
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I love Madden’s writing, especially as an Australian queer author. Up until now, his gift has been for beautiful romances between young men.
Quite the Pair is different. It’s still a love story, but this time the love belongs to two best friends, Austin and Sydney.
Austin and Sydney’s simultaneous breakups send them back into each other’s orbit and into a shared New York City apartment, where they pledge to break their toxic patterns over a 12-month lease.
I loved the dynamic between the two of them, and I loved how real it felt. Gay men can, without being too stereotypical, be kind, loving and devoted to our “hags” but every so often, we can take them for granted, too.
That’s exactly what Quite the Pair captures. Sydney is the fixer, the people-pleaser; Austin is, at times, the occasionally self-absorbed single gay man leaning on her.
I was so drawn to Sydney’s story that I found myself rooting for her hardest of the two.
I also loved how the story is told: through first-person thoughts between the two protagonists, but also through artefacts; letters, voicemails and videos, tracing Austin and Sydney’s friendship across the years.
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New York City is practically its own character, and Madden, who now lives there himself, writes it with the kind of affection that transports you straight into it.
Madden grew up in Ballarat before a career in musical theatre took him to New York. He has described Quite the Pair as “a tale of second chances, life in New York City, musical theatre, corporate jobs, dating, sex, gay stuff, and finding yourself (again or for the first time) in your thirties”, and called it “a love letter to friendship and all the incredible women in my life”.
I also loved the small cameo from Sydney – the town, not the character – towards the end of the book.
Speaking of cameos: one of my favourite things about Madden’s first three books was the way characters crossed over between them. I remember a surprise appearance from Anything But Fine‘s Luca, Jordan and Amina in Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell.
Madden has said in interviews that he’s a sucker for a cross-novel cameo, so I went in hunting for one in Quite the Pair. I’m assuming there wasn’t one, given this book is aimed at an adult audience rather than his young adult universe – though if there was, I missed it.
I don’t know Madden at all, but I’m so proud of him for writing this book. It was a joy to read and a little sad to finish, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Quite the Pair is out now through Penguin Books Australia, RRP $34.99.