Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A banned novel about WWI, conscientious objectors and gays

Despised and Rejected by Rose Allatini

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Despised and Rejected is a 1918 novel by Rose Allatini (using the pen name AT Fitzroy) that was banned and pulled off the market for being ‘morally unhealthy’ following a trial of its publisher CW Daniel. The Gay Men’s Press republished the novel in 1988 and the Persephone Press edition that I read came out in 2018. Set during WWI, the novel’s main characters are a bisexual woman named Antoinette and a gay man named Dennis who is also a conscientious objector. The novel begins […]

Turbulent Waters in Post WWI London

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Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests has been getting a lot of good press since its release last month, and the praise for this novel is much deserved. It really is a masterful work. Waters creates a suspenseful and heartbreaking love story against the backdrop of post-WWI London. Its rigid moral climate and deteriorating social and economic situation contribute to an almost suffocating environment that limits opportunity for women and criminalizes unconventional sexual desires. Waters stands shoulder to shoulder with Edith Wharton and Kate Chopin in […]



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