The Dark Mother by Waldo Frank

New York : Boni & Liveright, 1920

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.

Waldo Frank (1920)
 Alfred Stieglitz
American (1864-1946)
Palladium phtotogaph
25.1 x 20.2 cm
Art Institute of Chicago

     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. (p.88-89)

Bibliographies & Ratings: Young (1318)

Thanks to U.S. copyright law, the Internet, the University of California and Google, you can read a digital copy online or download it in your favorite e-book format.