Michael Nelson

Michael Harrington Nelson (1921–1990) was a British novelist best known for his 1958 gay novel A Room in Chelsea Square, originally published anonymously.

Early and personal life Born in 1921, Nelson was a journalist before the Second World War. He was a secretary to publisher John Lehmann during the war, and served as a captain in the Royal Army Service Corps. Nelson later owned a bookstore in Winchester where he lived with his then boyfriend. Nelson married Rachel Holland, who knew he was gay, and they remained married the rest of their lives. Nelson died in 1990.

Writing Nelson's first novel Knock or Ring (1957), which drew from his own experiences, was about a "ring" of booksellers who conspired to fix auctions.

His second book, A Room in Chelsea Square (1958), was published anonymously owing to its explicit homosexual content. It has been reprinted several times.

Nelson's other books are Blanket (1959) (published under the pseudonym "Henry Stratton"), When the Bed Broke (1961), Captain Blossom (1973), Captain Blossom Soldiers On (1974), Nobs & Snobs (1976), Captain Blossom in Civvy Street (1978), and Fear No More (1989).