''Gents'' is a novel by Warwick Collins first published in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. It is set in the unlikely environment of a "Gentlemen's" toilet, somewhere in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The story describes the lives of three West Indian immigrants who run a public urinal in London. Collins claimed it was stimulated in part by his memories of apartheid when he lived as a child in South Africa. The New York Times reviewer wrote: ''"Mr. Collins is able to express, deftly, several contrasting views of homosexuality. ..., resolves to make up his own mind about ''alternative'' life styles and does precisely that, with a mixture of love and logic."''

Footnotes

1990s LGBT novels 1997 British novels Afro-Caribbean culture in London Black British literature Novels set in London Novels with gay themes {{1990s-LGBT-novel-stub