In Memoriam by Alice Winn

New York : Knopf, 2023

It's 1914 and Henry Gaunt and Sydney Ellwood, still in boarding school, follow the news from the war with excitement, including the heroic deaths of their friends. Gaunt, half German, enlists as a way to limit the anti-German sentiment he and his family might experience and to leave behind the feelings for Ellwood that he can't acknowledge, much less act upon. Ellwood, also silently pining for Gaunt soon follows.

The author uses a variety of forms, including letters and issues of the school newspaper, The Preshutian, to follow Gaunt, Ellwood and their friends through the actions of the war, including the horrors of the Somme and the deaths of many. 

Boarding school novels set in the 1920s often discuss the 'Old Boys'—those former students who fought in World War I and sometimes return for cricket matches against the current students.  Winn has flipped this by constructing a boarding school novel that highlights the youth and excitement of the students but then follows them into the war. What is glorified in bravery by the school and its students is a horror laid bare through their experience of the war. 

Riding by H. S. Cross

New York : Fox Books, 2008

As mentioned in an earlier post, Riding by H.S. Cross is an early version or draft of her novel, Grievous (2019). While Grievous tightens up the story and improves the writing, some of the original structure of Riding is unfortunately lost. The major headings of Lent, Easter, St. Stephen's (appearing at Trinity in Grievous), Summer, Michaelmas, and Christmas remain. The individual chapter titles have been dropped in favor of simple numbering. A nod to early boy's school fiction, the chapter titles suggest what is to happen in each chapter. Many early boy's school novels were originally issued serially in publications directed to school age boys and the individual chapter titles may be an artifact of this publication process. 

Below is the original table of contents from Riding. Grievous, has 57 chapters in six sections. Riding also has six sections but is comprised of 95 chapters and issued in two volumes. 

Riding : a novel, volume 1

ISBN: 978-0-6152-1366-8 — Fox Books 2008, 513p

Lent

They Longed for the Sheltering Sky

There Was a Book

Mr. Grieves Is Not Amused

Something to Remember

She Envied Her Own Pens

The Propagation of Knowledge

Cartomania

Forgive Our Foolish Ways

Eels, the West Wind, and People Like Us

The Boredom Is No Longer Exquisite

Why Does He Deserve It?

Night

Morning

Friend Indeed

Caveats

The Trial

Perfect Gifts

Triangulation

The Tower

The Doctor is In

That Hideous Recognition

The Chair Loft

Souls of Men

Easter

Passage

Curses

London

Zapped

The Channel

The Key

Paris

Mazes, Continental and Otherwise

Drought

The Weapons of Pacifists

Quicksand, With Beacons

St. Stephen's

Return

Winds of Change

I Write This Not to the Many, but to You

Code That Sets the Miles at Naught

Stratigraphy

Touch

Heartbeat, Heartburn, Heart Attack, Heartbreak

Pursuits, Intellectual and Otherwise

The Persistence of Memory

Orders of Magnitude

Patron's Day

The Exigencies of Time

The Cure

In Which the Geomaniac Ventures, and Is Lost

Progress

Pioneers

Riding : a novel, volume 2

ISBN: 978-0-615-26248-2 — Fox Books 2008, 550p

Summer

To Wake, as if From Dreaming

Irresistible

Messages, Direct and Indirect

The Quick and the Dead

Nothing Shall Be Impossible

The Lady From the Sea

Michaelmas

Rank by Rank

A World Gone Mad

Something in Their Midst

Hounded by His Adversary

Ely

Lamentation of Swans

Venture

Chariot of Fire

Experiences

The Contract

Hypnos and Son

Crime and Punishment

The Passage of Time Vexed Them

The Encircling Gloom

Orders of Magnitude, II

The Pillar of the Cloud

The World as We Know It

The World as It Has Known Itself

This Howling Insanity

Exeat

An Approximation of the Moon

Night, II

Another Gift

The Ninety-Second Day of Michaelmas Term

Keeper of a Hundred Secrets

A Kind of Mercy

The Coming Storm

Ice

As Bad as All That

What Girls Are Made Of

The Most Brutal of Punishments

Unfamiliar Sun

Christmas Tea

Christmas

The Future

The Present

The Past

Like the Wildness of the Sea

The Winters of Your Grief

And Christmas Comes Once More

Finistère by Fritz Peters

New York: Farrar, Straus, 1951

Finistère was promoted as a divorce novel—focusing on the detrimental effects of divorce on children. While that may have been the company line and no-doubt created an opening for larger acceptance of the work, it cannot be denied that the focus of the novel is a gay relationship—an adolescent's first love and his family's response to it. An odd sort of boarding school novel, the story of the tragedy of divorce, and a classic of gay literature, Finistère has appeared in more editions than any other fictional work by Fritz Peters.

Peters' second novel focuses on the tumultuous adolescence of Matthew Cameron. As Gore Vidal noted in his much quoted book review in The Saturday Review of Literature (Murder of Innocence, v.34:no.8, p.13, February 24, 1951), the first third of this book lays out the many betrayals experienced by young Matthew. The middle third lays out the story of Matthew's relationship with Michel, and the final third follows the rapid disintegration of Matthew's world. 

It is the summer of 1927. Thirteen-year-old Matthew's parents are divorcing and he and his mother are relocating to Paris. She has decided Matthew is too attached to her and to Scott Fletcher, a close friend of the family so Matthew is to be enrolled in the boarding school, St. Croix École des Garçons. Soon after Matthew's arrival at the school, André, a classmate, shares some dirty pictures with him and they become friends. The headmaster approves of them sharing a room and before long they are having a sexual relationship—a relationship about which Matthew feels quite guilty.

While with his family at the Christmas holiday, Matthew meets his mother's new 'friend', Paul Dumesnil. While Paul makes an effort to include him in conversations and activities, Matthew now feels like an outsider. As a condition of his parents divorce, Matthew isn't permitted to see his father until he reaches age 16. His father effectively disappeared from his life, and now he feels he is losing his mother as well. 

By the following fall 1928, his mother marries Paul. Scott, whom Matthew has idolized for years, has become engaged to Françoise. Scott, who had always been available to him is now focused on his relationship with Françoise and seems to have no time for him. Françoise seems to be the only adult who recognizes Matthew's attachment to Scott for what it is.

After a summer with his family, Matthew returns to school in the fall of 1929, to discover that André has gone, having moved to a different school. Alone and without support from any of his relationships, he feels lost. Michel Garnier, a new athletic coach, has joined the school and upon the boys' first outing for a swim in the Seine, Matthew swims too far and seems to give in to the current pulling him under. The relationship with Michel begins after he saves the drowning Matthew and helps to nurse him back to health. Their relationship brings Matthew back to life, feeling true love for the first time without all of the guilt he felt about his relationship with André. However, Matthew is innocent and this idealized first love can't insulate him from the cruelty of the world or of the adults in his life. 

It is no surprise that the ending of a gay novel from this time is likely to end tragically—most (but not all) did. As might be surmised by the many editions over the years, Finistère was popular among gay men despite the ending. The central message of the novel isn't that gay people are bad, or in this case, the problem isn't that Matthew is gay. The problem is that the adults in Matthew's life are incapable of supporting him. 

TOP ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: [1] London : Victor Gollanz, 1951   [2] New York : Signet/NAL, 1952   [3] Fin de la Tierra, Spanish translation by A. S. Glanz, Buenos Aires : Editorial Dintel, 1953   [4] The World at Twilight, New York : Lancer Books, 1964
[5] New York : Lancer Books, 1966   [6] London : Victor Gollanz, 1966.
⸻
BOTTOM ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: [7] New York : Lancer Books, 1968   [8] London : Panther, 1969   [9] Los Angeles : Seeker
Press, 1985   [10] New York : Plume/NAL, 1986   [11] Vancouver : Arsenal Pulp Press, 2006.

Matthew's Happy Ending

Tobias Schneebaum (1922-2005), in his introduction to the 2003 re-release of his 1979 work Wild Man (University of Wisconsin Press), discusses the reception of his early work's gay themes and the ways in which authors, such as Gore Vidal and Fritz Peters conformed to expectations of publishers of the time. In 1965, a new edition of the 1948 novel The City and the Pillar was released "in order to return to it the strength, the temperament and the animus that Vidal had wanted in the first place." Schneebaum further states that Fritz Peters was forced by his editor to change his original happy ending for Finistère to "an ending that was tragic, to conform with contemporary ideas concerning what interested the public and what was obscene." 

Fritz Peters correcting galley proofs of his second novel, Finistère
November 27, 1950  [cat 3119-0007]
Private Collection

As Fritz Peter's novels were published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, the business files related to his work are included in the Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. collection at the Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library. When I spent the day with the collection on December 14, 2002, I found that the collection did not include any manuscript material nor was there any correspondence that suggested a back-and-forth regarding the ending of Finistère. The files about this novel were limited to a copy of the original contract, lengthy and  ongoing correspondence regarding the republication of Finistère by publishers other than FSG, and correspondence with reviewers and prospective reviewers of Finistère.

Columbia University Libraries announced in the Our Growing Collections column in Columbia Library Columns (v.13:no.2 1964:February, p.55) that "Mr. Fritz Peters has presented the manuscript of his novel, Finistère, published in New York in 1951." Interestingly it was listed under the section for medical library gifts. It is now housed in Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library within the collection, General Manuscripts, 1789-2013. The type-written manuscript with minor changes in ink follows the published work, including the tragic ending.

If there was an original happy ending to Finistère, it appears to have been lost to history. What might Matthew's life have looked like, had Fritz Peters been free of the cultural and moral restrictions of mid-twentieth century American publishing?

Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (IV); Garde (Primary, **); Mattachine Review (IV); Young (3019/3020,*)

Bibliographies & Ratings II: Austen (174); Gunn (American 54a); Levin (121)

The Vanishing Sky by L. Annette Binder

London : New York : Bloomsbury, 2020

Set in 1945, The Vanishing Sky tells the story of the Huber family and small town life in Germany during the waning years of the war. The story unfolds in alternating chapters from the perspective of the mother, Etta and the youngest son, Georg. 

Etta is determined to get her husband and both of her sons through the war at all costs—it is her sole focus. Her older son, Max, has just returned from the war and she recognizes that something isn't right with him, something that we would now recognize as post-traumatic stress disorder. While Max spends his days unsuccessfully running from the battlefield horrors that have imprinted on his mind, Joseph, his father, seems only encouraged by the dubious news stories of Germany's success. While struggling with signs of dementia, he still has a certain nostalgia for his own years fighting in the first world war and is determined to fight in this war now that the old and the young are being called upon to serve. 

Georg, an overweight bookish boy, is nearly 200 miles away at a Hitler Youth school. He is trying to hold on and avoid the inevitable day when he reaches the age of sixteen and will be sent to fight. He sees what happens to those who flee. While there he discovers he has feelings for one of the other boys, Müller. They become close friends but Georg knows that the reality of their relationship must be kept secret. 

An excellent writer can create psychological atmosphere—a way of projecting an emotion or feeling onto the reader related to the events of the novel and the internal dialogue and emotional state of the characters themselves. Binder's strength in this regard is her ability to convey the overwhelming sense of dread and the sense of inevitability among the characters in a small village in Germany near the end of World War II. That dread doesn't simply come from the reader's knowledge of how a novel set in this time and place is going to end. It comes from reading the lived experience and the inner dialogue of the characters that the author has created. It is compelling and creates a natural empathy for their plight.

Binder's Hitler Youth School and the Schools of Classic Boarding School Novels : Some Parallels

One would not normally think a novel such as this would have any relationship to classic English boarding school novels of the early twentieth century, but the parallels couldn't be more clear. The culture and activities at the Hitler Youth school are not so different than those of the schools in classic English boarding school novels of the time. There is a general veneration of those students who came before and went off to war, a focus on physical prowess—in this case in war games instead of cricket, and the classic close friendship.

The focus of the Hitler Youth school was not one of academics. One might not call it a school at all given that it served primarily as a military training camp for teens. The school in a traditional English boarding school novel would teach students Latin, Greek, math, etc.—subjects that Georg shows an unusual interest in. In an English boarding school, those who went to war were venerated because of the selfless act of choosing to go to war. The teens at the Hitler Youth school had little choice about attending the school and upon reaching the age of sixteen would be required to join the military ranks.

The traditional English boarding school activities such cricket competitions have been transformed in the Hitler Youth school to weapons competitions, physical training, digging trenches and building defensive walls—basic skills needed to function in a world of war.

Maybe the most important aspect of the classic boarding school novel is the overly close relationship between two of the boys. It is suggested that Georg's closeness with Müller is not invisible to the other boys, but they know that it needs to remain hidden from the adults. The love between these two characters is presented in a similar way as the great loves of boarding school novels, really quite chaste in character, but certainly real in their own hearts.

Binder has done an amazing job of merging genres by mixing elements of the classic boarding school novel with an historical fiction that turns what we think of as a World War II story on its head. 

Front Free Endpaper: Gaston Goor Illustrates Les Amitiés Particulières

Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte is widely considered one of the classic pieces of romantic schoolboy fiction. It is the story of an older and a younger boy in a French boarding school who become romantically attached and about the tragedy that ensues when the affair is discovered and mishandled by the priests who run the school. The 'affair' actually is no more than some passionate letters and a couple of stolen kisses. It was translated into English and made into a film and in 1953 Flammarion published a de luxe edition in two volumes with lithographic illustrations by Peyrefitte's favorite illustrator Gaston Goor.

Frontispiece, Volume I : Georges and Lucien flanking an angel
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Title Page, Volume I : Georges reading a note with Lucien
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges observing the courtyard
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges and André in front of statue of Tarsicius
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges and Lucien at the piano
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Alexandre, Georges, and Lucien at communion
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges looking at Alexandre through the window
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges and Alexandre in the greenhouse
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges in the office of the Superior
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Alexandre and Georges in Father Lauzon's room
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : The exchange of blood
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Frontispiece, Volume II : Love between Alexandre and Georges
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Title Page, Volume II : Alexandre and Love
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Lucien in the dormitory with Father Trennes
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Lucien serving mass with Father Trennes
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Maurice, the Superior, and Father Trennes
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Alexandre and Georges surprised in the cabin
Gaston Goor (French 1902-1977)
 Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges remembers Alexandre bathing
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Lucien in the dormitory
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Alexandre meet near the greenhouse
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges learns of Alexandre's death
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Memories of Alexandre
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

This blog post was originally a reblog of two posts (Part I & Part II) from Front Free Endpaper, a site that has since closed. The post has been updated to include the original images. Descriptions for each image have been added to provide context. Based on other information available online, it appears that this set of images is incomplete, lacking one image from each volume.
- E. Neagle, 23 December 2018