It’s 1993. Chris Roberts is thirty-three, HIV-positive for eight years and working at an Oxford Street hardware shop, while funerals, fear and failing health threaten to destroy him.
Then, on a balmy night in Darlinghurst, everything shifts.
At a dance party in Sydney’s gay ghetto – midway through a performance of 'Something’s Coming' by a life-sized Barbra Streisand puppet – Chris has an epiphany. Effective treatments will come. And if he wants to be around when the future arrives, he has to fight for his life.
Chris’s daily routine becomes an act of resilience and resistance, fuelled by a refusal to disappear quietly. He stares down his past, makes peace where he can and dares to imagine a time beyond HIV/AIDS.
For a Moment More captures the sharp wit, humour and fierce tenderness of those times. It’s a story about love, farewelling friends, defiance and joy. It is about laughing in the face of fear.
Praise...
‘Effortlessly, Johnston evokes the psychological, political and physical landscapes of Sydney in the HIV/AIDS era, opening a window onto this perilous world and illuminating the past. Shot through with exuberant humour, compassion and hope in the face of fear, For a Moment More is a marvellous achievement.’ - LUCY TRELOAR
Contemporary, LGBTQIA+ Themes, HIV/AIDS, Darlinghurst, Gay Sydney
About The Author
G. S. JOHNSTON has been writing in one form or another for as long as he can remember, beginning with music and songwriting.
After completing a degree in pharmacy, a formative year in Italy rekindled his passion for the written word, leading him to complete a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. Seeking a broader creative canvas, he turned to writing short stories and novels.
For more than a decade, Johnston worked as a pharmacist at an Oxford Street pharmacy, in an area that had one of Australia’s highest HIV caseloads. The role provided him with firsthand knowledge of the treatments of the era and direct access to frontline activists who entrusted him with their stories.
Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, Johnston now lives in Sydney, Australia. He is the treasurer of the Historical Novel Society Australasia and hosts the Society’s podcast series, ‘Imagining the Past’, which features interviews with leading historical novelists.
