Author: Andre Tellier
Publisher: Pyramid G262
Year: 1957 Print: 1 Cover Price: $.35
Condition: Book Grades. Very Good. Light wear. 
Genre: Fiction/
Pages: 224

70126019E

First published in 1931, this is an extremely uncommon early novel set in New York City of homosexuality and a young man whose gay tendencies infuriates his father, who attempts to set him upon the "path of normality" by hiring a mistress to seduce him.

The novel follows Armand, an aristocratic, effeminate, and gay young man, illegitimate son of Comte Edmond de Rasbon. Rejected by his father for being “womanish” and unlike his image of a successful heir, Armand is raised by his uncle, Josef Bironge, in a secluded estate 

Armand’s life is marked by romantic and emotional setbacks:

• He is courted by his father’s mistress, Marianne Dodon, who seduces him but ends up in love with him, leaving him bitter 

• He falls in love with his cousin Lucien, but Lucien’s illness and refusal to share his life with Armand deepen his isolation .

• In London, Armand meets his tutor, Jean Mareau, and begins to explore his identity as a poet and a man who loves other men 

After the deaths of two loves, Armand moves to New York City in search of self-discovery. There, he finds a small but supportive community among artistic queer men, but his naivety, drinking, and drug use lead him into moral and personal ruin .

The novel’s tone is melodramatic and contrived by modern standards, with a focus on tragic love, social rejection, and the challenges of queer visibility in the early 20th century . It also contains a distinctive, sometimes surreal, attention to interior spaces and psychological states