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The Dark Mother (Boni & Liveright, 1920) is an early example— perhaps the definitive one—of a novel in which two men are in love, but in which the homosexual nature of the relationship is never revealed. In The New Republic (December 29, 1929), Stark Young wrote one of the few complimentary reviews of the novel, remarking,
One thing Mr. Frank does do: he brings home to us anew in this book the very valuable reminder that there are vast areas of life that our literature has not yet known how to include. In that sense this novel in places may be called a creditable experiment in material.
The two men in question here are nineteen-year-old David Markand and the somewhat older Thomas Rennard, who meet in a small town. Rennard is a visiting lawyer from New York, and Markand, following the death of his mother, is about to leave for New York to work for his uncle.
An intimate relationship develops between the two, and it is nurtured in New York when both men decide to share an apartment. Both have close female friends, and both lead semiseparate lives, coming together at night but sleeping in separate bedrooms. Rennard is very much obsessed with Markand who, in turn, does not understand the feelings that the other man has for him and gives an impression of naiveté.
When he first returns to the city, Rennard tells his artist sister Cornelia that he met somebody interesting on his vacation. When she asks was it the girl at last, he responds, “No—not the girl” (p. 50). Rennard attempts to explain his feelings to Markand by telling him the story of a man who loves his friend...
Quote: The Dark Mother by Waldo Frank is not a gay novel per se. It is however an excellent example of a novel where the primary intense relationship is the friendship between two men. The relationship is so intense in fact, that it's easy to think the absence of physicality is just the prudishness of the time. Although the homosexual nature of the relationship is never mentioned, the reader can feel it's strong presence.
Thomas Rennard, a lawyer from New York meets David Markand while vacationing. Markand's mother has recently died and he plans to move to New York. After arriving in New York, an intense love triangle of sorts plays out among Markand, Thomas Rennard and his sister Cornelia.
In the following quote, really the heart of the novel, Rennard explains his feelings to Markand through a story. Afterwards, he immediately changes the subject as if he feels he has revealed too much.
There was a man ... who loved his friend. This man loved his friend and a woman came into his life whom he also loved. He asked for her in marriage, she gave her promise. So he went to his friend and told him. And the friend cried, 'Do not wed her. Remain with me!' And the man said: 'I love this woman but you are my friend. I remain with you.' He dismissed the woman whom he loved.
Now, thereafter, all was sorrow in the home of the man and his friend. One night as the man slept an angel came to him. The angel said: 'Thou who art so loyal to thy friend, name a wish and it is granted.' The man half-unknown to himself, cried out: 'Make a miracle! Make one my friend and my lover. Then I may be loyal and yet be happy.' The angel smiled. 'So it is already.' The angel disappeared.
... at once the man awoke. He found himself in his bed. He remembered the angel's visitation. He believed it. He ran to the sleeping chamber of his friend, expecting to behold a miracle. It was his friend, his unchanged friend who slept there. The man cursed and smote his breast. Then a great light came to him. He understood. He returned both loyal and happy.
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