Behind the Mirror by Robin Maugham

London : Longmans, 1955
Jacket design: John Minton

David Brent is a screenwriter for a film company based in London. The latest project about the life of Daphne Moore, a famous actress from the 1920s, has hit a snag. Norman Hartleigh, a former diplomat who was deeply involved with Daphne has ignored all correspondence from the firm regarding permission to depict him in the film. David journeys to Tanganyika (a British colonial territory that now makes up a portion of Tanzania) to secure Hartleigh's blessing.

Although it covers a significant amount of land, the fictional Aruna feels like a small town where rumors fly and everyone believes they know what everyone else is doing. Hartleigh is ostracized by the other residents for what they perceive as an inappropriate relationship with the young man, Bill Wayne, who lives with him. The colonists see the local residents as servants, not as equals so when Hartleigh moves an African girl into his home it creates another set of concerns for them.

While David negotiates permission from Hartleigh for the film, rumors are confirmed and secrets are revealed, endangering everyone. Hartleigh eventually reveals the truth of his relationship with Daphne Moore and their falling out, upending everything David thought he knew.

Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (III); Garde (OTP, **); Mattachine Review (III); Young (2559/2560)

Houston Incident by Steve Allen

New York : Henry Holt & Company, 1955

"It's a long road that has no turning."

This Irish proverb is the opening line of Allen's short story, Houston Incident. Meaning "your luck will change," is it offered as a bit of encouragement, or wishful thinking on the part of its speaker?

On a Houston street, Mac, a 'boy' traveling from Chicago to the west coast is engaged by an unnamed fifty-ish man in a mismatched suit. After agreeing with the statement, Mac takes the man up on the subsequent invitation to join him for a cup of coffee. After he has had his fill of coffee and hot dogs, he agrees to the offer of a bath at his nearby hotel.

The use of the term boy to describe Mac is meant to emphasize his naiveté. While earlier in our history, adolescence was considered to continue for several years beyond age eighteen, this 'boy' is certainly above the age of consent.

What at first appears to be a typical story of the homosexual predator with a plan to corrupt an innocent youth is complicated by the youth himself using his appeal to get his needs met. In fact, the predator is reduced to the prey, drunkenly begging the young man to stay with him.

Houston Incident first appeared in Steve Allen's (yes, that Steve Allen) short story collection, Fourteen for Tonight and was later included in the 1990 collection, The Public Hating.


Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (IV); Garde (OTP, c*); Mattachine Review (IV); Young (44)

The Stringed Lute : An Evocation in Dialogue of Oscar Wilde by John Furnell

London : Rider and Company, 1955

Beginning in 1891 when Oscar Wilde first meets Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas, the author recounts their relationship in the form of a play. Even before their relationship began, there were those within society who took issue with Oscar's writing, specifically The Picture of Dorian Gray. The relationship was a particular problem for Bosie's father, the Marquess of Queensbury whom Wilde sued for libel for calling him a homosexual.

The Stringed Lute is a play within a play as it begins and ends with the author in his apartment in the former home of Oscar Wilde. Furnell makes use of Wilde's own writings to create an authenticity to the dialogue. The first part focusing on the relationship with Lord Alfred draws most heavily from The Picture of Dorian Gray. The final part, taking place after his release from prison, draws most heavily from De Profundis.

The action of the play truly humanizes Wilde and presents him as a martyr of sorts; a Christ-like figure willing to be sacrificed for the cause. Furnell only alludes to the trials and the time in prison is skipped in its entirety. The effects of the imprisonment, however are seen in the subsequent years in France and briefly in Naples with Lord Alfred. Wilde died in poverty in Paris in 1900 surrounded by friends who had supported him through everything.

The Stringed Lute as well as The Trials of Oscar Wilde by H. Montgomery Hyde formed the basis of the 1960 movie.  While Hyde's text fills in the details of the trials, unfortunately much of what makes The Stringed Lute so appealing doesn't appear in the film.

Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (IV); Garde (P, 138 **); Mattachine Review (IV); Young (1345 *)

Two / Wicked Angels by Eric Jourdan

Binghamton, NY: Southern Tier, 2006

An English translation of Eric Jourdan's 1955 novel Les Mauvais Anges was released in 2006 by Southern Tier Editions / Harrington Park Press. It is the story of the love between two cousins, Pierre and Gerard. Divided into two parts, each character in turn tells the story of their intense relationship which is about love as much as it is about trying to become the other person. It is truly a story of obsessive love. Some reviewers have had difficulty with the sadomasochistic aspects of the story, so the reader should be prepared for this. 

Mr. Armbrecht, in his introduction to the text, offers an in-depth analysis of censorship of literature in France and about the censorship of this novel in particular after it's initial publication in 1955. The censoring of this text was about much more than just its homosexual content. What troubles me about the introduction, and frankly the information offered on the cover of the book is that it purposefully obscures the fact that this is not the first English translation of this novel. In fact, Pyramid Books released the first English translation by Richard Howard in 1963 under the title Two. 

New York: Pyramid Books, 1963

Two is a fairly well-known pulp title and is featured in a number of recent publications about gay pulps, so it is difficult to believe that it was simply overlooked. Mr. Armbrecht does note in his introduction that Jourdan has written nine novels and none of them have been translated into English except Les Mauvais Anges. However, he stops short of saying exactly when that translation happened. The back cover of this new translation also includes this: "A classic French gay novel, banned for thirty years -- now lovingly translated into English" The casual reader is left with the idea that this is the first translation of this novel. As well, the introduction discusses that the republication of the original French was done from the manuscript and was not a reprint of the original 1955 text. At no point, however, does he state whether what he is offering is an English translation of the manuscript or the original text. I'm not suggesting that the new translation isn't worth reading, because I think that it is and that it offers an important new look at this wonderful novel. However, I think that the first English translation, Two, also deserves to be acknowledged. The two translations are obviously different, in many ways reflecting the two distinct times in which they were written. Each offers the reader a unique telling of this amazing story.

Bibliographies & Ratings: Young (2047, *)

This post originally appeared in slightly different form on FritzPeters.info, January 23, 2010.