The Two Roberts
Damian Barr
Available as Hardback, eBook, Downloadable audio
Meet Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun: artists, lovers, outsiders. From 1930s Glasgow to wartime London, The Two Roberts is a captivating novel inspired by their wild lives
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARD FOR FICTION 2026
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
A BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2025 FOR THE GUARDIAN, THE OBSERVER, THE HERALD AND THE BBC
‘Crackles with creative rebellion’ DOUGLAS STUART
‘immersive, intelligent, immensely sensual’ ELIF SHAFAK
‘A novel that brims over with generosity and warmth’ OBSERVER
He will stay like this forever, Robert’s arm draped round him. They will be forever twenty.
Scotland, 1933. Bobby MacBryde is on his way. After years grafting at Lees Boot Factory, he’s off to the Glasgow School of Art, to his future. On his first day he will meet another Robert, a quiet man with loose dark curls – and never leave his side.
Together they will spend every penny and every minute devouring Glasgow – its botanical gardens, the Barras market, a whole hidden city – all the while loving each other behind closed doors. With the world on the brink of war, their unrivalled talent will take them to Paris, Rome, London. They will become stars as the bombs fall, hosting wild parties with the likes of Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Elizabeth Smart. But the brightest stars burn fastest.
Stunningly reimagined, The Two Roberts is a profoundly moving story of devotion and obsession, art and class. It is a love letter to MacBryde and Colquhoun, the almost-forgotten artists who tried to change the way the world sees – and paid a devastating price.
“Barr proves that Glasgow has many stories to tell. A funny, charming book that crackles with creative rebellion. It is a pleasure to read and there is real joy in discovering the forgotten history of these working-class antiheroes”
Douglas Stuart
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“Deeply affecting … Barr’s description of the tentative and gradual way the couple’s love for each other evolves is done beautifully … A vivid and moving portrait of two fine artists”
the Times
“A moving meditation on art, love and home … Barr mingles comedy and tragedy with wonderful fluidity”
guardian
“Brilliant … Immersive, intelligent, immensely sensual”
Elif Shafak
“The Roberts live once more! A brilliant and unflinching portrait of love and talent. Spending time in this world, so beautifully filled with detail and atmosphere, was a real pleasure”
Graham Norton
Damian Barr
Damian Barr is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and journalist. His memoir Maggie & Me, won Stonewall Writer of the Year and Sunday Times Memoir of the Year. His debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, was shortlisted for six major awards and named a Book of the Year in the Observer, Guardian and Mail. He has written columns for The Times and Sunday Times and hosted Front Row on BBC Radio 4 as well as his own series Guide Books. In 2019, Damian brought books back to television with the Big Scottish Book Club, now in its sixth series and syndicated internationally. Also on BBC TV, he presented Shelf Isolation and the landmark documentary for Sir Walter Scott’s 250th. Damian holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His world-famous Literary Salon ran from 2008 to 2023, celebrating writers from around the world and widening the cultural conversation. He is a trustee of Gladstone’s Library and a campaigner for libraries. He lives in Brighton.
damianbarr.com | @mrdamianbarr
National Galleries Scotland on the real life Two Roberts.