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Beebo Brinker #5
The Marriage
Easily the strangest novel Ann Bannon ever did. Page and Sunny were young, in love and married. Sunny found life blissful with her husband; Page saw his career as a writer in NY begin to take off. A baby was on the way. The pair agreed that life together, with someone so appealing, was as good as it could be.
Then word came down that Page, who'd been adopted, was born Roger, older brother of Sunny. Laura and Jack, the gay couple from Bannon's Brinker series, introduce this tale, at times playing key roles for the younger couple dealing with adult incest in a manner far more realistic than either of the two novels from Kathryn Harrison.
Then word came down that Page, who'd been adopted, was born Roger, older brother of Sunny. Laura and Jack, the gay couple from Bannon's Brinker series, introduce this tale, at times playing key roles for the younger couple dealing with adult incest in a manner far more realistic than either of the two novels from Kathryn Harrison.
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
174 people want to read
About the author
Ann Bannon
23 books171 followersAnn Bannon (pseudonym of Ann Weldy) is an American author and academic. She is known for her lesbian pulp novels, which comprise The Beebo Brinker Chronicles and earned her the title "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction."
Bannon was featured in the documentaries Before Stonewall (1984) and Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives (1992)
Bannon was featured in the documentaries Before Stonewall (1984) and Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives (1992)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 18, 2008
This is Bannon's fifth in the Beebo Brinker Chronicles, although it has not been reprinted after 1960. To read this, you will have to find the original.
The novel features Jack and Laura from I Am a Woman, Women in the Shadows, and Journey to a Woman, but as minor characters. The book is centered more on a traditionally married couple who are friends of Jack and Laura. Quite honestly, compared to Bannon's other books that don't seem to slow down to pick you up - they just snag you and you're breathless trying to keep up - this one lags a bit in the beginning.
The married couple featured in this book is too perfect. Blond-haired and blue-eyed, hopelessly in love with each other, recently pregnant, wonderful and faultless. Kind of boring, really. Until Bannon wallops you with the revelation that they're brother and sister. I cheered when I read that.
It becomes instantly interesting as the man, who was adopted into a family steeped in tradition and short on fertility, is overcome with guilt. While the woman, less concerned with what others think, doesn't see his view, but loves him desperately nonetheless. Elements of torridness carry over from her more famous lesbian pulp fiction works: the couple can't keep their hands off each other, even after they discover who they are, then try to deal with the shame. Poor Jack opens up to his friend to talk him through being a pariah only to be rejected. Poorer still, Laura is not featured much at all in the novel.
They are a likable couple, dealing with love and shame, and you end up rooting for them in the climax. I was surprised to find that I had to skip to the end to see if they really made it out ok. Bannon draws blatant parallels to homosexuality in her characters' discussions of how right or wrong it is to love who you love, but without being preachy. The obstetrician is a bit creepy, and I was left wondering if that sort of behavior was acceptable. I hope Cleis or some other publisher takes a serious look at this book. It's well done and deserves a re-issue.
The novel features Jack and Laura from I Am a Woman, Women in the Shadows, and Journey to a Woman, but as minor characters. The book is centered more on a traditionally married couple who are friends of Jack and Laura. Quite honestly, compared to Bannon's other books that don't seem to slow down to pick you up - they just snag you and you're breathless trying to keep up - this one lags a bit in the beginning.
The married couple featured in this book is too perfect. Blond-haired and blue-eyed, hopelessly in love with each other, recently pregnant, wonderful and faultless. Kind of boring, really. Until Bannon wallops you with the revelation that they're brother and sister. I cheered when I read that.
It becomes instantly interesting as the man, who was adopted into a family steeped in tradition and short on fertility, is overcome with guilt. While the woman, less concerned with what others think, doesn't see his view, but loves him desperately nonetheless. Elements of torridness carry over from her more famous lesbian pulp fiction works: the couple can't keep their hands off each other, even after they discover who they are, then try to deal with the shame. Poor Jack opens up to his friend to talk him through being a pariah only to be rejected. Poorer still, Laura is not featured much at all in the novel.
They are a likable couple, dealing with love and shame, and you end up rooting for them in the climax. I was surprised to find that I had to skip to the end to see if they really made it out ok. Bannon draws blatant parallels to homosexuality in her characters' discussions of how right or wrong it is to love who you love, but without being preachy. The obstetrician is a bit creepy, and I was left wondering if that sort of behavior was acceptable. I hope Cleis or some other publisher takes a serious look at this book. It's well done and deserves a re-issue.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2014
I would probably give The Marriage four stars if I hadn't read Ann Bannon's outstanding Beebo Brinker Chronicles, next to which this book kind of pales.
The most amazing thing about The Marriage is how much you feel for Page and Sunny, how you actually hope they can work out their situation, even though the last thing they should be is together.
Controversial to say the least, Ann Bannon's novel deals with what happens when two people in love (and married) discover they are actually brother and sister.
"We don't have to apologize for it, we have to do _something_ about it," Page yells at Sunny after his father drops the bombshell on them.
Page, once known as "Roger" to his birth parents, cannot deal with knowing his sister is also his wife. Sunny, his other half, wants to try and overcome everything so they can stay together. Complicated doesn't even begin to describe all the emotions, debates and heartache that goes on.
How Bannon manages to keep you reading despite the incest factor, how she keeps everything from becoming too melodramatic testify to her talent as a writer.
It makes me rather uncomfortable that she constantly compares incest to homosexuality, but I have to remember the time in which this novel was written and that Bannon is never less than compassionate in how she handles things.
There is understandable and intense discomfort on the part of those few who discover Page and Sunny are so closely related. But as Page's adoptive mother says to her her outraged husband: "It's your moral duty to mind your own affairs!"
The most amazing thing about The Marriage is how much you feel for Page and Sunny, how you actually hope they can work out their situation, even though the last thing they should be is together.
Controversial to say the least, Ann Bannon's novel deals with what happens when two people in love (and married) discover they are actually brother and sister.
"We don't have to apologize for it, we have to do _something_ about it," Page yells at Sunny after his father drops the bombshell on them.
Page, once known as "Roger" to his birth parents, cannot deal with knowing his sister is also his wife. Sunny, his other half, wants to try and overcome everything so they can stay together. Complicated doesn't even begin to describe all the emotions, debates and heartache that goes on.
How Bannon manages to keep you reading despite the incest factor, how she keeps everything from becoming too melodramatic testify to her talent as a writer.
It makes me rather uncomfortable that she constantly compares incest to homosexuality, but I have to remember the time in which this novel was written and that Bannon is never less than compassionate in how she handles things.
There is understandable and intense discomfort on the part of those few who discover Page and Sunny are so closely related. But as Page's adoptive mother says to her her outraged husband: "It's your moral duty to mind your own affairs!"
May 25, 2012
More like 3.5 stars. See my review at danielshankcruz.com.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews