It begins with an anonymous confession from a gay man in Damascus, who recounts an incident in Syria: a car accident tragically linked to the sender's homosexuality - an event that ends in a fatality. What follows are the stories of nine Arab men, from Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Western Sahara, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel, many living in exile. Including letters, chat logs and interviews, Bed Works explores themes of sham marriages, sexual abuse, police brutality and killings in the men's home countries, but also of their struggle to forge a new identity in exile. Readers are thrust into the harsh realities faced by LGBTQ+ communities in countries that criminalize homosexuality. In these areas, relationships often end abruptly, communication is sparse and secrecy prevails. LGBTQ+ individuals whisper about their identities in public spaces, alter their personas - sometimes to the extent of collaborating with the authorities - and may suddenly disappear. The epilogue is a heartfelt personal letter from the author Khaled Alesmael, himself a journalist and writer who fled from Syria to the UK.
