[1][2] It is a work of historical fiction set in 1890s London and tells the story of two men collaborating on a study favouring civil rights for what were then called "sexual inverts" and now as the gay community.

"[6] Peter Kispert, writing for The New York Times Book Review, described the plot as "intricate and finely crafted," explaining, "[Crewe] attentively constructs rich, human motivations and contradictions for his fictionalized renderings of John and Henry ... Crewe uses the interior depth of John and Henry to build intrigue, creating provocative developments even without the use of overtly dramatic plot points.

"[7] Kispert noted, however, that the novel "falters ... in its later chapters, when John begins a self-destructive streak that is too flatly written to be believable," but concludes, "Otherwise, the writing is exquisite.

Cahill explained, "Crewe's taut prose is shot through with descriptive vividness," though "occasionally the measured quality of the writing induces the desire for some kind of rupture, a break (however transient) into a different register.

"[13] The Times's John Maier provided a mixed review, stating "Crewe has a confident feeling for his historical moment — with its stifling norms, intellectual neuroses and crushing high-mindedness— and an atmosphere that's all the more impressively evoked since the principal drama of the age, Wilde's arrest and imprisonment, is kept off stage throughout.