Quote: Razvan Popescu, a Romanian peasant boy of 11 whose father is deceased and whose mother is struggling with many children, is adopted away from his difficult home situation by a Romanian prince around the turn of the 20th century. The prince hires the best tutors who educate Razvan in literature and the arts. When they relocate to Paris, this boy of peasant ancestry begins to operate in society and is known as the prince's boy. After the prince’s death, Razvan inherits an apartment but is forced to provide sexual favors for cash.

In 1927, Dinu Grigorescu is sent to Paris by his wealthy father to become a great author or poet—to experience la vie de Boheme, but mainly to help him move on from his mother’s death 5 years earlier. While there, he is drawn to the Bains du Ballon d'Alsace, a notorious establishment where men of a certain class can procure sexual services that are a bit more out of the ordinary. It is here that Dinu meets Honore (Razvan), who supplies these services. Immediately becoming something much more than sex worker and client, and feeling a strong connection through their mutual Romanian ancestry, they fall in love.

Covering the forty years after their initial meeting, Dinu relays the internal struggle to form a permanent relationship with Razvan against the backdrop of the beginnings of obvious anti-semitism in Romania, Romania's alliance with the Nazis, and all of the social changes that come with the horrors of World War II. As an aesthete, Dinu's life is more influenced by literature and the arts. The work of Marcel Proust plays an important role in his life and how he sees the world. His close relationship with his own mother meant he connected easily to Marcel's relationship with his. As well, the work of Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu is a major influence.

   

Quote: Henry James is known as the gay writer that never wrote anything gay. Certainly in recent decades there have been queer readings of his work, but overall his intent was to avoid gay stories or to obscure them so totally that they go unnoticed. Colm Toibin has brilliantly conveyed aspects of James' life, highlighting his fear of being found out and the struggle of not being able to live as ones true self. Myriad examples of what can happen when one does live authentically present themselves and remind James that it's not safe.

Opening in January 1895 with the premier of Guy Domville, Henry James' first play, The Master proceeds through the final five years of the nineteenth century. James is 52 at the start of the novel and the events of the ensuing five years recall key moments in his life—particularly the deaths of his parents, his sister and his close friend, the novelist Constance Fenimore Woolson. These events highlight his struggle to maintain relationships throughout his life.

Writing short stories and novels, James has preferred to work in solitude, resulting in challenges in relationships with both family and friends. His primary relationship is to his work so he avoids the opening of his play by attending another theater performance, an Oscar Wilde play (likely An Ideal Husband). After Guy Domville closes as a failure the night that it opens, The Importance of Being Earnest opens in its place, giving Wilde two plays in production at the same time.

Within a few months, Wilde's star has fallen and two friends (Jonathan Sturgess and Edmond Gosse) begin sharing weekly updates with James regarding the ensuing trial for gross indecency. James' reaction makes it clear that he believes it's too dangerous to live honestly and the trial only confirms his commitment to his writing and avoidance of romantic attachments.

References to more accepting countries in Europe are used to highlight the danger of being gay in England at this time. Rumors of Wilde's fleeing to France before he was ultimately imprisoned made sense given the permissive laws there. After Wilde's imprisonment, James continued to converse with Edmond Gosse and the subject of expatriate John Addington Symonds entered the conversation. Symnonds had lived in Italy because of its more accepting culture and had privately published A Problem of Greek Ethics, a defense of homosexuality and sent copies to friends in England who were horrified. Although not expressly stated, there is an implication that James was one of the recipients.

James walked a tightrope when it came to managing relationships in society. He needed the interaction, since that's where many of his storylines were borne, but how do you maintain relationships with men without inciting gossip, such as happened regarding his relationship to the young sculptor, Hendrik Christian Anderson, or with women without creating an expectation of something more. As Baroness von Rabe notes late in the novel,
“I remember you when you were young and all the ladies followed you, nay fought with each other to go riding with you. That Mrs. Sumner and young Miss Boott and young Miss Lowe. All the young ladies, and others not so young. We all liked you, and I suppose you liked us as well, but were too busy gathering material to like anyone too much. You were charming, of course, but you were like a young banker collecting our savings. Or a priest listening to our sins.” (p.265)

   

Quote: Like "The Master" before it, Tóibín has centered his novel on an important literary figure. The Master gave us Henry James; The Magician presents Thomas Mann.

Opening in 1891 in Lübeck, Germany with a 16 year old Thomas, spanning sixty years, and ending in 1950 Los Angeles, Tóibín presents Thomas' life in detail. Thomas publishes Buddenbrooks and Death in Venice to much acclaim, before World War I. The interwar years are complicated for Thomas with both his brother Heinrich and his children Klaus and Erika becoming quite vocal politically. With the rise of Hitler and the Mann's exile to Switzerland, Thomas doesn't feel that he can speak out against the Nazis—in part because he wants his books to remain in print in Germany, which he still considers home. His decision to remain mostly silent allowed him to continue to sell his works and support his family in an increasingly polarized world.

A particularly strong moment in the novel happens around Thomas' request that his son who is still in Germany retrieve his journals from the safe in their home and send them to Thomas in Switzerland. For a period, the journals are lost and Thomas' concern manifests itself in a flashback based on an entry in the journals that makes clear Thomas' homosexuality. This section provides the strongest sense of what Thomas Mann may have been feeling, while the rest of the novel seems to be solely focused on what happened next.

While many reviewers contend that the novel is about Thomas Mann's secret sexuality, it actually plays a minor role. The focus of the novel is the day-to-day life of Thomas and his family, how they survive the social and political upheaval of the time, and how Thomas' decisions about what to say publicly (or not say publicly) allowed the family to survive World War II.

Stylistically, The Magician is a novel, but structurally it reads like biography. In this way, I think the adherence to a linear chronological structure with chapters titled by location and year, doesn't allow the reader to learn much about Thomas Mann, the man. While reading, I wondered if a novel structured more specifically around the fear of the Nazis obtaining his journals and flashing back to various experiences through his life documented in the journals might have allowed the reader to have a sense of what Thomas felt about his own life and sexuality, or what or how he felt about his children's sexuality, three of whom would be considered part of the LGBTQ community today.

   

Quote: Taking place in 1931 at St. Stephen's Academy, five years after the events of Cross' 2015 novel, "Wilberforce", "Grievous" is a sweeping novel with complex inter-related storylines. The central characters are Grieves, a Housemaster who finds his responsibility for disciplining students in opposition to his pacifist inclinations and Riding, a creative student who struggles more generally after the loss of his father.

As with "Wilberforce", Cross pays homage to the classic boarding school novels and authors. Riding, who writes fantastic stories which, with the help of other students are acted out in secret, provides a connection to the lives of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Interestingly, while "Wilberforce" follows the classic form of focusing on games, they are only mentioned in passing in "Grievous"
. The action here is focused more on choir, creative writing and acting.

A central theme of the novel is illness and death. Many characters have experienced the death of a parent or spouse and frankly none of them handle it well. Neither the students, nor the adults seem to be able to talk about their feelings, causing any number of misunderstandings and errors in judgement. Grieves' troubled personal life manifests in his impossible relationship with a married woman who is now ill and traveling with her daughter throughout Europe and America to find a cure.

Riding and Grieves are heavily involved in each others lives but this manifests itself almost exclusively in their relationships with others. Over the summer while Cordelia is traveling with her mother to find a cure, she is engaged in a one way correspondence with Riding about her days. As well, Riding's mother, a nurse, is corresponding with Grieves who is trying to help the woman he loves find a cure.

Riding, Volumes 1 & 2 by H. S. Cross ; New York : Fox Books, 2008
New York : Fox Books, 2008
Some have described this novel as less claustrophobic than "Wilberforce" since significant parts of the action take place outside the walls of St. Stephens. While there is the experience of life outside the school, the weight of life's challenges seem to follow the characters wherever they go. There's a certain melancholy and longing for connection that permeates the book in both the adult and adolescent characters. This creation of setting based on emotions or feelings as opposed to lengthy description of locations is one of the strongest elements of the novel.

"Grievous" is described as Cross' second novel, but it has its roots in a novel called "Riding", published by Cross in 2008. Riding was issued in two volumes amounting to over 1000 pages. Following the same structure, "Grievous" has been tightened up and the writing generally improved. In "Riding" the bones are certainly there, while 10 years hence, "Grievous" is a much stronger work.  In a July 28, 2008 interview with Amande Green, Cross spoke about "Riding" and described her next work at the time as a prequel called Wilberforce.

   

Quote: Opening during World War II, Captain Charles Ryder's British military unit relocating in the middle of the night. Upon waking he learns that they are now stationed at Brideshead, a large family estate that has been repurposed for the war effort. What follows is Ryder's memories of Brideshead and the Flyte family who lived there and whom he came to know during the interwar years. This is a fascinating time when large estates are in dire financial situations and many can no longer be supported. Extreme social changes are also underway after the end of the first world war.

Charles meets Sebastian Flyte while at university and begins to spend more time with him and his small group of friends including Anthony Blanche, a flamboyant and open gay man who may be either Spanish or Italian, as this is not completely clear in the text. As many of the circle of friends move away, Charles and Sebastian become even more inseparable. It's clear that Charles has strong feelings for him and is honest with himself about them.

Sebastian invites Charles to spend time with him at Brideshead but seems intent on keeping his family distant, planning visits when he knows family will be away. Sebastian seems to be most himself away from his family who have opinions about what he should do and how he should live. When Charles does finally meet Sebastian's family, the magic in their relationship begins to disappear and the relationship with Sebastian becomes contentious. Sebastian's fears are realized when Charles works with Sebastian's mother to control his behavior.

Brideshead Revisited is a classic of gay literature and this is most likely tied to the character of Anthony Blanche. Evelyn Waugh attended university with Brian Howard and it is said that Anthony Blanche is largely based on him. Howard was said to be brilliant and funny but in the end didn't accomplish much in his short literary career. Like Blanche, Howard was openly gay and made no secret about his life. There is a nice write up of Brian Howard's life including his appearance as Anthony Blanche in Brideshead at The Esoteric Curiosa.

What may be overshadowed by the more obvious gayness of Blanche is the less obvious love between Charles and Sebastian. It's a quieter relationship that doesn't announce itself as much as it just exists. Later in the novel, when Charles is speaking with Julia, Sebastian's sister, he acknowledges that his first love was Sebastian and really that his subsequent marriage did not compare to that first love. Even as Charles attempts to form a relationship with Julia, one wonders if it's simply a more socially acceptable relationship that would allow him to feel closer to Sebastian in some way.

Throughout the novel there are themes of love, family, religion (Catholicism) and duty. The Flyte family is so encompassing that any individual relationship is controlled by the family itself. This is why Sebastian feared introducing Charles to the family because 'they would win him over to their side.' While some members of the Flyte family are more devout than others, in the end the Catholicism of the family wins out in nearly every decision and interaction. One can't truly escape one's family and religion. Even Charles who holds strong anti-religious feelings and often has arguments with members of the Flyte family, in the end learns something and is changed by the family's religious devotion.