When i started out reading this book, I'd thought it'd be a conventional "gay fiction" book, with the characters pining for each other and their disappointments and love. But this book presented so much. It presented a true, detailed and sordid glimpse into the Nigerian gay, gender and societal narrative, all perfectly and deeply interwoven as to form a strong impression in your mind.

K. Adrian Banks weaves his characters with masterly heft and a brutal candidness that's surprising.

In Phoenix we see the Nigerian stereotypical gay man: an effeminate young man who's the living, breathing stereotype of all that's gay and unwanted in Nigeria. We see a man who's been branded as gay by circumstances, but who does identify as a bisexual male, though he milks the stereotype and hatred for all it's worth. The author presents this character flawlessly and beautifully, with doses of nastiness and the occasional tragic flashback thrown in.

In Henry, the author weaves the perfect man. Tall, chiselled, from rich, aristocratic pedigree, and who ordinarily would be a ladies' man, but who's gay, truly gay. He has no affections for women whatsoever. He is the typified Nigerian male in looks and disposition, but in a shocking twist, fits the perfect mould for a heterosexual male, but isn't.

The story between this two weaves a Nigerian story that's altogether powerful and extremely sad as well, given that Nigeria is an unapologetically homophobic country, and the time when the book is set--that moralistic time between the freedom of men to love other men albeit secretly and shortly before the anti-gay Bill is signed into law--is a testimony of how turbulent life is for Nigerian gay men, how downtrodden they are. And of course, how, bogged down by society's expectations, gay men enter into marriages to live double lives.

Behind Closed Doors captures the true essence of the meaning, Double Life. It is a sad but refreshing portrayal of gay men in Nigeria who dares to love, to dream, to even kill to protect themselves.