Despised and Rejected - Rose Allatini

Written by Rose Allatini
Read by Christine Rendel
Format: MP3
Bitrate: Mixed
Unabridged

Under the pseudonym A.T. Fitzroy, prolific author Rose Allatini wrote her 1918 novel Despised and Rejected against the backdrop of the First World War.

Set in England slightly before and during the War, this powerful novel is considered by many an important landmark in the literature of pacifism and also early gay and lesbian literature. Its publication was risky and consequential for both the author and the publisher, and the British Government destroyed the remaining unsold copies of the book within months of publication. The book languished for decades, until its recent revival.

The story focuses on composer Dennis Blackwood, a gay conscientious objector, and his relationship with Antoinette de Courcy, a young woman who (as he realises but she does not) is a lesbian.

In three parts, Despised and Rejected is like a concerto: the first part, allegretto, light social comedy, the middle movement slow and dark with some lyrical passages, and the final movement, mirroring the first, but nearer to tragedy than comedy, closing on a note of sorrowful resignation, and a faint suggestion of hope for the future.

December 10 2024
10 hrs and 26 mins