An' I wish I was dead 'fore I done what I did

[sovay]

On the strength of D. K. Broster's The Wounded Name (1922), I am prepared to declare the article which was the subject of my previous post stuffed full of wild blueberry muffins, at least where the deniability of the homoeroticism is concerned:

And Aymar's head lay against Laurent's shoulder, and Laurent, who rather thought he was crying himself, and didn't care, was battling with a most unseasonable desire to kiss it there, before everyone; and would very likely have succumbed only that he was sure Aymar had not quite lost consciousness.

The whump and the loyalty kink in this novel go to eleven. There is a quite extraordinary amount of tenderly caring for a bitterly sensitive person who can endure any amount of opprobrium, torture, and self-loathing before going to pieces at kindness. The setting of the previously mentioned bed-sharing and anguished confession is a sea-cave and the bed itself of sailcloth and seaweed, which makes me feel rather personally come for. I don't know how to categorize the heterosexual element which is simultaneously essential to the plot and completely out of left field, except that I think the author reconciled herself to it with OT3. No reader on the planet needs slash goggles. At one point the protagonist's family conclude from his restless, distracted, high-strung behavior that he is obviously in love and the only thing they are wrong about is which of the de la Rocheterie cousins—who explicitly look almost like the male and female versions of one another right down to the famous, unusual bronze hair, a touch more recalling Tanith Lee than Emma Orczy—it is. The author likes epigraphs even more than I do: one chapter has three of them. Browning's Aurora Leigh (1856) is sampled twice and Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1906) furnishes the one that really matters. Did I mention there is not just nursing through a fever, but nursing through multiple fevers? There is no apparent fandom for this book on AO3 and I can't explain it. There's courtroom drama. The tags would go on forever.

Comments

[aurumcalendula]

Neat! *adds to to-read list*

[sovay]

*adds to to-read list*

Yay!

[oracne]

ROFLMAO MUST READ.

[sovay]

ROFLMAO MUST READ.

It is truly impressive.

[moon_custafer]

Sounds like the only reason there’s no fic for this on Ao3 is that there’s no need for any.

[sovay]

Sounds like the only reason there’s no fic for this on Ao3 is that there’s no need for any.

People write fic for Rosemary Sutcliff! There's always room!

[desireearmfeldt]

I know a couple of folks who are writing fic for Broster's other books at the moment...

[sovay]

I know a couple of folks who are writing fic for Broster's other books at the moment...

Oh, cool. Pointers? I have met one in my other comments, but perhaps not the same people.

[choco_frosh]

The tags would go on forever.

It sounds like it!

[sovay]

It sounds like it!

Alternately, it took an entire novel to fill out the author's Whumptober bingo card.

[flemmings]

Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1906) furnishes the one that really matter

I want to say 'One Man in a Thousand, yes?' but that's Rewards and Fairies. What's the PoPH one?

[sovay]

I want to say 'One Man in a Thousand, yes?' but that's Rewards and Fairies. What's the PoPH one?

From "On the Great Wall": "Without a horse, and a dog, and a friend, man would perish. The Gods gave me all three, and there is no gift like friendship. Remember this . . . when you become a young man. For your fate will turn on the first true friend you make."

[osprey_archer]

My desire to read this book is doing battle with my knowledge that Google books always gives me eyestrain. Possibly worth a little eyestrain this case...

[garonne]

I had the same eyestrain problem and ended up making an ebook of The Wounded Name so I could read it. I haven't uploaded it to Project Gutenberg yet (need to fix some formatting issues) but can send you a copy if you like.

Alternatively, it should be available on Project Gutenberg soon. Sovay's post inspired me to dust off the project and finally get it finished :) but I'm not sure how long it will take for Gutenberg to validate it and make it available.

[sovay]

My desire to read this book is doing battle with my knowledge that Google books always gives me eyestrain. Possibly worth a little eyestrain this case...

I downloaded it as a PDF, but I don't get on with screen-reading at all and I still read the entire novel straight through, which is either a recommendation or a warning.

[benbenberi]

What an enticing description! How did I never hear of this author before? Must. Read. Now!

[sovay]

What an enticing description! How did I never hear of this author before? Must. Read. Now!

I have no explanation for her obscurity. She seems to be undergoing at least an online renaissance, however, and I am honored to contribute to it!

[regshoe]

Haha, it is certainly something, isn't it...

I've not written any fic for The Wounded Name, partly because I found the het romance really off-putting and didn't want to return to it for fic—but you're right that there is a lot of potential there, especially in the courtroom drama. (The Flight of the Heron, in case you've not already found it, has a thriving small fandom under the tag 'The Jacobite Trilogy'!).

[sovay]

Haha, it is certainly something, isn't it...

It's a lot of things! And I appreciate the inclusion of all of them!

I've not written any fic for The Wounded Name, partly because I found the het romance really off-putting and didn't want to return to it for fic—but you're right that there is a lot of potential there, especially in the courtroom drama.

That's fair; I didn't find the het romance offputting so much as structurally confusing, but mileage etc.

(The Flight of the Heron, in case you've not already found it, has a thriving small fandom under the tag 'The Jacobite Trilogy'!).

I have indeed located it! I just feel I should read at least one of the relevant novels first.

(I have just been informed by luzula that I should check out your reviews of Broster, which I wish to communicate so that you don't feel entirely stalked if I start turning up in your comments.)

[pameladean]

Oh, oh, WHERE was this book when I was thirteen? Not that I wouldn't read it now, because I will, but I don't NEED it in the same way.

P.

[sovay]

Oh, oh, WHERE was this book when I was thirteen? Not that I wouldn't read it now, because I will, but I don't NEED it in the same way.

I don't know where these books were when almost anyone was thirteen! It's like the author fell through a memory hole. If I was reading Renault and Sutcliff as a child, I should have been reading Broster, too.

[selkie]

Wait wait should I prioritize this sailcloth and seaweed over the Heron one from last night? Or should I not read it at all because it might mix in?

SOUNDS GAY, I'M IN though.

[sovay]

SOUNDS GAY, I'M IN though.

IT'S HELLA GAY.

(I don't think it will mix in. I am getting the picture that The Flight of the Heron may be the better novel, but The Wounded Name is very much the author's MY ID AND WELCOME TO IT.)

[luzula]

The OT3 solution is very reasonable and I agree that the ending suggests it! But unfortunately Aymar/Avoye didn't work for me because of the incest vibes--not that they're cousins, but the way they grew up together as children. And it leans into that, too! Oh well.

But anyway, the het is not what anyone reads this book for. Isn't Laurent's duel adorable? Awww. "Adorable" is not usually a word I'd apply to duels, but...

[sovay]

--not that they're cousins, but the way they grew up together as children. And it leans into that, too! Oh well.

"He was her lover, but he was almost her brother, too" definitely helped with the Tanith Lee vibes.

But anyway, the het is not what anyone reads this book for.

I was legitimately confused when it showed up!

Isn't Laurent's duel adorable? Awww. "Adorable" is not usually a word I'd apply to duels, but...

No, it absolutely is. He is such a golden retriever of a character that the novel gets as close as possible to lampshading that, too, by having Avoye liken him to Sarrasin—not to mention "Pylades, Patroclus, and Euryalus all rolled into one," speaking of not exactly straight allusions.

[gwynnega]

I had never heard of Broster! The hurt/comfort sounds spectacular. Plus a sea-cave and Aurora Leigh.

[sovay]

I had never heard of Broster! The hurt/comfort sounds spectacular. Plus a sea-cave and Aurora Leigh.

It was spectacular beyond my expectations. I can't fault the author for her taste in epigraphs, either. I can't believe it took me until now to find her.

[edit] Your icon!

[hyarrowen]

Thank-you for the welcome! Which was nice, for someone arriving out of the blue.

WN really is an h/c feast of epic proportions and there are some lovely set-pieces in it - the duel, Gris-Gris and the orchard scene, to name but a few. And her ability to paint pictures with words is right there, too. I found the ending a bit "Huh? what happens next? Is it what I think it is?" but I suppose even DKB couldn't go there in the 1920s.

She obviously enjoyed herself immensely while writing it. :)

[hyarrowen]

*possibly I mean Vert-Vert.

[asakiyume]

Wow! It seems like it would need to be dosed out in teaspoons, given its power!

[sovay]

Wow! It seems like it would need to be dosed out in teaspoons, given its power!

It is pretty strong stuff.