I take it back from the mouth of an animal

[sovay]

So I had never heard of D. K. Broster before she was invoked in a comments thread over at osprey_archer's and now I am waiting for the Gutenberg e-book of The Wounded Name (1922), because "Waterloo happens off-stage while the two main characters share a bed in a cave and exchange anguished confessions" is really all the blurb I need for a Napoleonic novel. [edit: It's on Google Books. I'll be back in a bit.] In the meantime, I went looking for information about Broster herself and ran into this simultaneously intriguing and frustrating article:

A particular feature of Broster's fiction is the way in which she portrays friendships between men. There is much stress laid on misunderstanding and reconciliation, and many intense conversations reflecting on minute points of honour. Long passages of dialogue, and some authorial omniscience, enable us to see the characters' interior worlds. Often one man saves another from false accusations of dishonour, or from execution, and the commitments of friendship often take precedence over other allegiances. There is also much emphasis on physical and emotional suffering, and one friend watching over another while he recovers from illness and fever. Blood, sweat and tears are followed by physical and emotional recovery. Some would say that such scenes have a homoerotic element; I'm wary of reading back later interpretations into 1920s fiction, but it would be difficult to write in this way for a modern audience without creating an impression of more than a passionate friendship. I am inclined to say that whilst we may well read homosexual overtones into The Flight of the Heron, and others of her novels where the emotional focus is firmly on the male characters, this wasn't consciously intended by Broster, and my impression is that it was not picked up by contemporary critics. As for D K Broster herself, she was unmarried and lived with her close friend Gertrude Schlich for more than thirty years; but this wasn't uncommon then, and assumptions from a modern perspective about two women sharing a home would only be speculative.

I understand not wanting to project categorizations of the present onto the behavior of the past. I was nonetheless reminded of how it took me until 2014 to find an anthology of modernist poetry which directly acknowledged H.D.'s bisexuality and polyamory and referred to Bryher without equivocation by their chosen name. It is unnecessary as well as inaccurate to suggest that homoeroticism in fiction of the 1920's must be a product of modern slash goggles as opposed to something that could be found on its own recognizance. (Trust me. I'm reading Forrest Reid.) Qualifying it as unconscious on the part of the author treads perilously close to the she-wrote-it-but angle of Russ' How to Suppress Women's Writing (1983). I don't even care that much about the readings of contemporary critics, since I can remember reviews of Carol (2015) which missed the chemistry ("Harold, they're lesbians") between its female leads. Look, I am late to the game of this writer and know nothing about her that is not cursorily available on the internet, I know nothing about Broster and Schlich except that they lived together for more than thirty years and I can read the dedication of The Yellow Poppy (1920), their relationship might have been neither sexual nor romantic because people are capable of bonding with neither of those factors in play, but could we still not default to "in the absence of evidence, she mustn't have been queer"? Scootch a generation forward and living with another woman and writing m/m looks like Mary Renault.

Last and less bristlingly: man, hurt/comfort really is older than dirt. I should like to read her supernatural stories, too.

Comments

[muccamukk]

I thought Flight of the Heron was considered a gay classic. I obviously got that osmosis a little off.

[sovay]

I thought Flight of the Heron was considered a gay classic. I obviously got that osmosis a little off.

It may well be a gay classic. I'm having trouble trusting this article.

[cyphomandra]

Broster’s Flight of the Heron was one of the first books for adults I ever bought - I picked it up from a flea market in Florence when I was eight or so - and it definitely set me up for being a lifelong fan of slashy hurt- comfort. It’s still one of my favourites. I have read The Wounded Name, but it was some years ago and I’ve mainly retained the emotional intensity.

I share your frustrations with the author of that article! Yes, we can’t possibly dare to presume, but really.

[sovay]

Broster’s Flight of the Heron was one of the first books for adults I ever bought - I picked it up from a flea market in Florence when I was eight or so - and it definitely set me up for being a lifelong fan of slashy hurt- comfort.

That's wonderful. I'm glad it holds up, too.

I have read The Wounded Name, but it was some years ago and I’ve mainly retained the emotional intensity.

I'm about halfway through it and it's at least ten pounds of loyalty kink and hurt/comfort in a five-pound bag. (I'm enjoying immensely.)

I share your frustrations with the author of that article! Yes, we can’t possibly dare to presume, but really.

My paper gaydar thinks they were a thing, but even if they weren't, it's just . . . argh.

[ethelmay]

There's a book available only in snippets on Google Books called Notable Sussex Women: 500 Biographical Sketches (Helena Wojtczak), which says that Gertrude Schlich put In Memoriam notices in the paper every year "to the dear memory of" Broster until her own death in 1969.

[sovay]

Gertrude Schlich put In Memoriam notices in the paper every year "to the dear memory of" Broster until her own death in 1969.

My paper gaydar thanks you.

[luzula]

Oh! I didn't know that; thank you so much for sharing.

[thisbluespirit]

D K Broster seems to be much loved among my flist at the moment; I had to do a small double take on you only discovering them. (Different sides of the flist apparently! lol.)

From what people have said, I should think you will enjoy them a lot. ♥

[sovay]

D K Broster seems to be much loved among my flist at the moment; I had to do a small double take on you only discovering them.

I do not believe I had ever heard of her before tonight. I don't even remember seeing her titles in libraries. It looks like I would have encountered her if I had read Diana Gabaldon, but I never did, despite being recommended the Lord John Grey stories.

From what people have said, I should think you will enjoy them a lot.

So far, so good!

[aurumcalendula]

could we still not default to "in the absence of evidence, she mustn't have been queer"?

This so much!

[sovay]

This so much!

At least it reminded me that I want to watch Ammonite (2020).

[luzula]

I'm so glad to see more people discovering Broster! I fell head over heels a year and a half ago, and have been doing my best to remedy the lack of fic. : D I never really got the urge to write for The Wounded Name, though--it just seems complete in itself. The Flight of the Heron, on the other hand, has so much potential for fic.

IMO, there's no way Broster didn't mean it. Mr Rowl is less slashy overall (in that the het element is more important) but still. Here's Captain Barrington's sister's thoughts when she finds her brother has taken in a girl who later turns out to be a handsome cross-dressed Napoleonic officer trying to escape prison: It was so unusual for Hervey to show any interest in the sex other than that demanded by ordinary politeness that she was curious to see this girl, though at the back of her mind she knew quite well that it was only his humanity which had led him to offer her hospitality. His sister knows he's gay! Also, his first name is Hervey, which I can't help but suspect to be a reference.

[regshoe]

Ooh, I didn't know about that Hervey—nice, and perhaps it was deliberate!

[sovay]

I'm so glad to see more people discovering Broster! I fell head over heels a year and a half ago, and have been doing my best to remedy the lack of fic.

I am delighted to hear about your fic, and I greatly appreciate you being the vector of my discovery.

His sister knows he's gay! Also, his first name is Hervey, which I can't help but suspect to be a reference.

Oh, nice.

It is always possible that "The Love of Women" is merely a technical description of the chapter, since it's more concerned with the novel's female characters than any other scene of The Wounded Name, but especially in light of Broster's earlier quotation of Kipling, there was no way for me to read the phrase without hearing the echo of "'Follow Me 'Ome'" and David and Jonathan.

[larryhammer]

hurt/comfort really is older than dirt

:points to Gilgamesh and Enkidu:

[sovay]

:points to Gilgamesh and Enkidu:

I'm not sure the comfort part counts if your beloved stays dead!

[regshoe]

Broster has been a firm favourite of mine ever since I read Flight of the Heron two years ago, and I'm glad to see more people discovering her :D

And, yeah, I agree about that article. I do think she probably did mean it like that, and this: Qualifying it as unconscious on the part of the author treads perilously close to the she-wrote-it-but angle of Russ' How to Suppress Women's Writing (1983) —is a very good point.

The supernatural stories—I've only read the ones in A Fire of Driftwood—are very interesting—especially, I think, in how they reflect and distort the subjects and themes of her realistic historical fiction.

[sovay]

Broster has been a firm favourite of mine ever since I read Flight of the Heron two years ago, and I'm glad to see more people discovering her

Is she at all available in print? Or not without committed combing of used book stores? She looks exactly like the sort of writer that Valancourt should pick up for their queer section, but I checked and they unaccountably have not. It is a testament to her readability that I hacked my way through 400-plus pages of Google Books for her sake, but I am a person who has a lot of trouble with e-books of any kind and I like to re-read in three dimensions if I can.

I do think she probably did mean it like that

Seriously, why should she not have?

The supernatural stories—I've only read the ones in A Fire of Driftwood—are very interesting—especially, I think, in how they reflect and distort the subjects and themes of her realistic historical fiction.

That does sound fascinating. And I see it's on Faded Page, so I guess her readability wins again.

[garonne]

I'm the person who's making the Project Gutenberg ebook of The Wounded Name. I haven't uploaded it yet (need to fix some formatting issues) but can send you a not-quite-formatted copy if you like.

ETA: Looks like you ended up reading the Google Books version. In any case, you have inspired me to dust off the project and finally upload it to Project Gutenberg! :)

[sovay]

In any case, you have inspired me to dust off the project and finally upload it to Project Gutenberg!

Oh, wonderful! If you let me know when your version is available, I'll swap the link into my other post. Thank you for being in turn an inspiration to read the book.

[minoanmiss]

*reads this analysis and delights in it*

[sovay]

*reads this analysis and delights in it*

I have opinions!

[hyarrowen]

*arrives by circuitous means*

So glad to see another person spreading the Broster word! ...That article, though irritating in places, was written in 2000 which was another country in many ways, especially in Australia. As least she pushed the boat out far enough to acknowledge the possibility that Broster knew exactly what she was writing. I hope you enjoy both WN and FoTH; they're quite something. FotH was very popular mid-century, but both have dropped off the radar since then, maybe because the Jacobite novels went out of print? Such a waste.

[sovay]

*arrives by circuitous means*

Pleased to meet you!

That article, though irritating in places, was written in 2000 which was another country in many ways, especially in Australia.

The difference in decades I can evaluate from experience; Australia, I can't, so I appreciate the addition.

I hope you enjoy both WN and FoTH; they're quite something.

I can report that the first at least was a hit!

FotH was very popular mid-century, but both have dropped off the radar since then, maybe because the Jacobite novels went out of print? Such a waste.

I keep repeating to people that I am stunned that it took me until now to discover Broster, but I really am. She's so closely aligned to so many writers I grew up on or discovered decades ago and yet. I'd really like to see her more available in print.

[starlady]

Hurt/comfort is eternal, but so is willful obliviousness. These books sound quite fun.

[sovay]

These books sound quite fun.

I greatly enjoyed the one I threw myself at last night.

[asakiyume]

Do you know when that article was written? The way it describes hurt/comfort sounds as if the writer weren't acquainted with the concept--but that seems hard to imagine nowadays.

ETA: Never mind! I see my question answered upthread!

[sovay]

ETA: Never mind! I see my question answered upthread!

It's all right! I don't think the author of the article on Broster was at all familiar with fan culture: hurt/comfort is pretty core.