Despised and Rejected (Classic edition)

AFTERWORD BY JONATHAN CUTBILL
344pp
ISBN: 978 1 906 462 628

 ‘Gladly, gratefully Antoinette welcomed [Hester’s] advent, and the rush of emotion which she had called forth; turned with relief from her fruitless search in the world of masculinity, to give herself up to whole-hearted worship of this proud silent woman, who had had the power to arouse her from her temporary lethargy. And in so doing, Antoinette was free from the least taint of morbidity; unaware that there was aught of unusual about her attitude... she merely felt that she was coming into her own again, and was healthy-minded and joyous in her unquestioning obedience to the dictates of her inmost nature.’

Despised and Rejected is a radical, heart-wrenching novel about being gay in the early 1900s, pacifism, and duty.

It begins deceptively as light social comedy: in July 1914 a family gathers at a holiday hotel in Devon. There is a dominant father and a socially ambitious mother who adores her son Dennis, who is a composer. When he arrives it is at once clear to the reader why he does not fit in with his smugly conventional family.

Then, with the outbreak of WW1, the tone of the book changes: it focuses on Dennis’s refusal to fight, his friendships with other conscientious objectors, his love affair with a mining engineer named Alan, and his close relationship with Antoinette, who has not yet realised that she too is queer but is joyous at the prospect when she does.

Despised and Rejected initially appeared in May 1918 under a pseudonym, AT Fitzroy. By September, the publisher was on trial, accused of being ‘likely to prejudice the recruiting of persons to serve in His Majesty’s Forces, and their training and discipline.’ He was convicted, fined, and the remaining 230 copies of the original printing were seized. As a result the book vanished from sight for many years.

Despised and Rejected is brave, original and moving and makes a compelling argument for the wrongs of war; it is a landmark in gay literature, and also a page-turner.

Also available as a Persephone Grey.

Cover painting

Mark Gertler (1913) by John Currie, 1884-1914 © The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.