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Unmentionables #1
Unmentionables
Unmentionables is an epic story of two pairs of lovers in the Civil War south. One couple is straight, white and wealthy. The other couple is gay, black and enslaved. Their fates are interlocked in ways that none of them could have imagined. This book should be read by all who may be interested in how gay people survive in a deeply conservative America.
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First published March 13, 2010
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422 people want to read
About the author
David Greene
10 books40 followersAuthor of Unmentionables Book Series, Detonate, and The Elliot Blake Novels and photographer of Shameless.
Spouse of painter James Stephens.
Spouse of painter James Stephens.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
June 5, 2011
The premise and everything is what drew me to enter my name to win this book. Homosexuality in the 1800s or anything in the 1800s is rife with drama and intensity and I was eager to see how this played out.
Unfortunately there were a lot of issues I had with this book and was unable to finish getting a little less than 50% way through. It took me a while to even revisit this and I ended up skipping ahead to find out what happens to characters.
I really admire the authors want of tackling a subject that I'm sure did happen and has been written about vaguely if at all. But as a fan of Zora Neale Hurston who is KNOWN for using dialect the dialogue and voices in this piece did not ring true for the 1800s. Jimmy sounded like Cato and vice versa which doesn't make sense for a field hand and a house negro. Dolen Perkins-Valdez did a great job in her debut novel "Wench" of capturing the complexity of a slave master relationship and even slave-slave relationships at a very tense time.
There were WAY too many POVs and having one from the dog really dragged the piece rather than push it forward. Too many characters and too many convenient situations. I felt like I wasn't in the 1800s but kind of in a sort of 1800s that we should be able to fill in the blanks on. Too much flowery language when moments could've been gotten to the point making the overall book come in at much less than 500+ pages.
I think a serious edit would've helped this flow much better and also to bring more realism and complexity to the situations and characters and making the entire piece seem more true for the reader.
Unfortunately there were a lot of issues I had with this book and was unable to finish getting a little less than 50% way through. It took me a while to even revisit this and I ended up skipping ahead to find out what happens to characters.
I really admire the authors want of tackling a subject that I'm sure did happen and has been written about vaguely if at all. But as a fan of Zora Neale Hurston who is KNOWN for using dialect the dialogue and voices in this piece did not ring true for the 1800s. Jimmy sounded like Cato and vice versa which doesn't make sense for a field hand and a house negro. Dolen Perkins-Valdez did a great job in her debut novel "Wench" of capturing the complexity of a slave master relationship and even slave-slave relationships at a very tense time.
There were WAY too many POVs and having one from the dog really dragged the piece rather than push it forward. Too many characters and too many convenient situations. I felt like I wasn't in the 1800s but kind of in a sort of 1800s that we should be able to fill in the blanks on. Too much flowery language when moments could've been gotten to the point making the overall book come in at much less than 500+ pages.
I think a serious edit would've helped this flow much better and also to bring more realism and complexity to the situations and characters and making the entire piece seem more true for the reader.
June 23, 2018
Holding at five stars on the re-read. One of the best books I've ever read. Off to Book 2!
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This book made me cry like every third chapter, right up until the end; tears of sadness and joy. Beautifully written. Review to follow.
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This book made me cry like every third chapter, right up until the end; tears of sadness and joy. Beautifully written. Review to follow.
August 23, 2011
This book was very interesting. It followed the stories of two plantations and the interactions between them. Two love stories are told with the backdrop of the Civil War. One is of an independent minded young woman and a somewhat timid man. The other is of two gay slaves whose friendship blossoms into a romance. As the individuals seek to find a place where they can each be accepted and live freely, the Civil War and all its social influence plays into their lives.
The majority of the book was very good. I enjoyed how the characters were developed, how they interacted with each other and how they ended up being related in one way or another. I was impressed with the author's ability to capture the love affairs in equal terms. Frequently, straight novels focus too much on straight people and gay novels focus too much on gay couples, but this one was able to acknowledge that both exist in the same realm. I also liked watching as each person discovered how they felt about slavery and the war. With that being said, I did not like the last part of the book when many of the characters found themselves in the North. Suddenly things got overly perfect. People's ingrained ideas were suddenly changed, everyone was pretty happy at the end and then it was suddenly over! It was very frustrating. I felt that there was way too much exposition and then no falling action after the "climax". Overall, I would say it was a pleasant book, but the end was a letdown.
The majority of the book was very good. I enjoyed how the characters were developed, how they interacted with each other and how they ended up being related in one way or another. I was impressed with the author's ability to capture the love affairs in equal terms. Frequently, straight novels focus too much on straight people and gay novels focus too much on gay couples, but this one was able to acknowledge that both exist in the same realm. I also liked watching as each person discovered how they felt about slavery and the war. With that being said, I did not like the last part of the book when many of the characters found themselves in the North. Suddenly things got overly perfect. People's ingrained ideas were suddenly changed, everyone was pretty happy at the end and then it was suddenly over! It was very frustrating. I felt that there was way too much exposition and then no falling action after the "climax". Overall, I would say it was a pleasant book, but the end was a letdown.
January 28, 2014
I barely managed to get a few pages into this book before I set it aside. It felt like the author was trying to hard to make both his love stories fit into one book when he should have just been focusing on one. Not only that but I felt the plot was a bit too thin to be believable.
I also felt like the male/male romance could have been replaced with a male/female romance without any plot changes because I never got to know the characters well enough to care about their HEA. Overall though what could have been an interesting book just turned out to be one big meh for me.
*I received this book as a digital ARC from NetGalley but the opinions in the review are my own.*
I also felt like the male/male romance could have been replaced with a male/female romance without any plot changes because I never got to know the characters well enough to care about their HEA. Overall though what could have been an interesting book just turned out to be one big meh for me.
*I received this book as a digital ARC from NetGalley but the opinions in the review are my own.*
August 25, 2020
A wasted premise. So much good stuff to examine anew, the Civil War, women’s rights, morality, slavery... gay slaves. But so little real insight and no feel or flavor for the time and circumstances.
A slow but intriguing start gives way to Soap Opera and overdrawn characters that don’t feel real for one moment.
The writing is clinical and emotionless. There’s good and bad in bold strokes only. It becomes highly repetitive, when characters recount in lengthy detail the adventures they’ve just had (and we’ve just read about) and sometimes repeat the same story again when a new character joins them. At times I felt I was reading a list instead of a novel. “First this happened, then that... “ Editor, where art thou?
And the gay stuff... felt like it was written by someone who was not gay and didn’t know any gay people. The book did not truly explore what a gay mans life might have looked like during this time period, never mind a gay slave. It is accepted by every character without real question, even the gay men themselves, who don’t seem to struggle with their identity at all, despite the fact they would surely have been in great danger if their secret came out. Especially, since the author claims both men have never even thought about sex with men (or anyone) before their romance. I spent years agonizing over my sexuality almost 200 years worth of gay progress later... but these two gays don’t question it. Ok.
The two sex scenes weren’t even necessary and felt like they were written by someone who had never had sex or felt any real passion. It was, again, clinical and emotionless. Even the Hetero sex scene was devoid of passion. What’s the opposite of aroused? That’s how I felt reading these scenes.
A Quaker character opens up a religious angle that seems, at first, to be a unique way to examine the morality of war. But near the end a woman delivers a real Bible thumping speech that reduces war to a simple Commandment-breaking no-no and made me wonder if the whole book was just written to espouse a Christian agenda. Worse yet, she shows no regard for the anguish her fiancée has endured in the war, especially from causing his best friends death. “So your buddy’s dead. Bible says your good. Get over it. “
Everything gets wrapped in a pretty bow at the end when, despite everyone’s life being turned upside down and all their futures made uncertain, we are supposed to feel happy for them all and believe that slave owners who literally torture their own children have loving hearts.
In reading the synopsis for Book 2, I see that rosy future is short lived as one character is sold back into slavery, so perhaps the author did not intend to imply a happy ending. Don’t care. Won’t be reading anymore of this series.
A slow but intriguing start gives way to Soap Opera and overdrawn characters that don’t feel real for one moment.
The writing is clinical and emotionless. There’s good and bad in bold strokes only. It becomes highly repetitive, when characters recount in lengthy detail the adventures they’ve just had (and we’ve just read about) and sometimes repeat the same story again when a new character joins them. At times I felt I was reading a list instead of a novel. “First this happened, then that... “ Editor, where art thou?
And the gay stuff... felt like it was written by someone who was not gay and didn’t know any gay people. The book did not truly explore what a gay mans life might have looked like during this time period, never mind a gay slave. It is accepted by every character without real question, even the gay men themselves, who don’t seem to struggle with their identity at all, despite the fact they would surely have been in great danger if their secret came out. Especially, since the author claims both men have never even thought about sex with men (or anyone) before their romance. I spent years agonizing over my sexuality almost 200 years worth of gay progress later... but these two gays don’t question it. Ok.
The two sex scenes weren’t even necessary and felt like they were written by someone who had never had sex or felt any real passion. It was, again, clinical and emotionless. Even the Hetero sex scene was devoid of passion. What’s the opposite of aroused? That’s how I felt reading these scenes.
A Quaker character opens up a religious angle that seems, at first, to be a unique way to examine the morality of war. But near the end a woman delivers a real Bible thumping speech that reduces war to a simple Commandment-breaking no-no and made me wonder if the whole book was just written to espouse a Christian agenda. Worse yet, she shows no regard for the anguish her fiancée has endured in the war, especially from causing his best friends death. “So your buddy’s dead. Bible says your good. Get over it. “
Everything gets wrapped in a pretty bow at the end when, despite everyone’s life being turned upside down and all their futures made uncertain, we are supposed to feel happy for them all and believe that slave owners who literally torture their own children have loving hearts.
In reading the synopsis for Book 2, I see that rosy future is short lived as one character is sold back into slavery, so perhaps the author did not intend to imply a happy ending. Don’t care. Won’t be reading anymore of this series.
July 14, 2010
"Unmentionables" is simply the best new novel I have read in at least a decade. It should be read by all who may be interested in how gay people survive in a deeply conservative America. It is an intimate narrative of individuals, couples and families before and during the American Civil War, mixing gay and straight love stories with the grand historical sweep of those times. Wonderful characters emerge, such as Cato, the half-black, delicately handsome young son of a severe plantation owner whom his father refuses to acknowledge as his own; Jimmy, the slave who sets out to right wrongs; and Dorothy, the Southern girl who defies the South's entire social structure. Scenes of erotic beauty are matched by others of moral challenge. The prose is straightforward, lavish, elegant, and it includes Tolstoyan tours de force such as one amazing chapter seen from the point of view of a beloved canine pet. Read it!
January 17, 2011
Unmentionables by David Greene is set in the American Civil War south and recounts the intertwining stories of two couples, Jimmy and Cato, who are gay, black, and enslaved, and Dorothy and William, who are straight, white, and wealthy. If this time period and subject matter seem a tad too distant to relate to your present 21st century lives, fret not. History in this work is used masterfully to transform the specific into the universal. Unmentionables is about love - romantic and otherwise.
Take for instance a conversation that Cato has with Erastus Hicks, a traveling painter from Pennsylvania who arrives at the Tennessee property of Augustus Askew, the slave's master, to paint a portrait of Lucille, Augustus's wife. Cato is engaged to assist Erastus on his commission. When he asks the artist why he paints, Erastus replies:
"It has something to do with yearning...yearning to get hold of what I see. Sometimes I'm overcome, Cato, truly...When I look at this world and see it, I wonder if what I see...is this what others see too?...Because I think if others saw it as I did, they too would be compelled to take up paints and brushes-to try to rope the magnificence of this world onto a canvas...just to try to get hold of it..."
Erastus is later implicated in the romance of William Askew (the son of Augustus and Lucille) and Dorothy (whose parents own Jimmy, Cato's eventual love interest). Erastus's acute perception of the world recurs throughout the novel and seems to mirror that of the book's author, David Greene, who writes with exceptional insight about both the human and non-human condition. In the following excerpt, for example, Mr. Greene provides a wonderful description of how the character named Venus, who happens to be a dog, looks upon her two-legged, upright friends:
"Then again, all humans were at a disadvantage. Walking as they did with their noses so high up off the ground, one could hardly expect them to catch most of the essence of the world. For what was the earth if not a sniffable, whiffable, smorgasbord? The world was a bouquet of fumes and traces, redolent, spicy, sometimes sweet or savory, sometimes foul or fetid. There were stinks of rot-and there were lovely perfumes. There were damp smells like creek water, or wet grass, or spring mud. There were dry smells like hay in the hot sun, or the grainy, dusty smell of weeds, browned and dessicated from days without water. There were exciting erotic smells of urine, sweat and body aromas: those powerful, heady wafts that brought the atoms of one body into the nose of another. How could humans not read these sexual signatures, the intimate imprint, the very particular smell of each being, traveling like a cloud of emissions, the fumes of physicality, dragged in a trail of musk behind all creatures?"
Mr. Greene's great appreciation of all that is sensual is equaled by his intellectual understanding of relationships that cross established racial, social, sexual, and political boundaries. In a style that is straightforward without being encyclopedic, poetic without being over-embellished, and informative without being didactic, he achieves that balance of form and content required for a successful, and, in this case, beautiful work of art. When Erastus explains to Dorothy why he has chosen his itinerant lifestyle, he states:
"As I said before, so much that is beautiful in life happens in an instant. But one must contrive to be in the right place at the right time and have one's eyes open."
For me, one of those instants began when I received my copy of Unmentionables.
Take for instance a conversation that Cato has with Erastus Hicks, a traveling painter from Pennsylvania who arrives at the Tennessee property of Augustus Askew, the slave's master, to paint a portrait of Lucille, Augustus's wife. Cato is engaged to assist Erastus on his commission. When he asks the artist why he paints, Erastus replies:
"It has something to do with yearning...yearning to get hold of what I see. Sometimes I'm overcome, Cato, truly...When I look at this world and see it, I wonder if what I see...is this what others see too?...Because I think if others saw it as I did, they too would be compelled to take up paints and brushes-to try to rope the magnificence of this world onto a canvas...just to try to get hold of it..."
Erastus is later implicated in the romance of William Askew (the son of Augustus and Lucille) and Dorothy (whose parents own Jimmy, Cato's eventual love interest). Erastus's acute perception of the world recurs throughout the novel and seems to mirror that of the book's author, David Greene, who writes with exceptional insight about both the human and non-human condition. In the following excerpt, for example, Mr. Greene provides a wonderful description of how the character named Venus, who happens to be a dog, looks upon her two-legged, upright friends:
"Then again, all humans were at a disadvantage. Walking as they did with their noses so high up off the ground, one could hardly expect them to catch most of the essence of the world. For what was the earth if not a sniffable, whiffable, smorgasbord? The world was a bouquet of fumes and traces, redolent, spicy, sometimes sweet or savory, sometimes foul or fetid. There were stinks of rot-and there were lovely perfumes. There were damp smells like creek water, or wet grass, or spring mud. There were dry smells like hay in the hot sun, or the grainy, dusty smell of weeds, browned and dessicated from days without water. There were exciting erotic smells of urine, sweat and body aromas: those powerful, heady wafts that brought the atoms of one body into the nose of another. How could humans not read these sexual signatures, the intimate imprint, the very particular smell of each being, traveling like a cloud of emissions, the fumes of physicality, dragged in a trail of musk behind all creatures?"
Mr. Greene's great appreciation of all that is sensual is equaled by his intellectual understanding of relationships that cross established racial, social, sexual, and political boundaries. In a style that is straightforward without being encyclopedic, poetic without being over-embellished, and informative without being didactic, he achieves that balance of form and content required for a successful, and, in this case, beautiful work of art. When Erastus explains to Dorothy why he has chosen his itinerant lifestyle, he states:
"As I said before, so much that is beautiful in life happens in an instant. But one must contrive to be in the right place at the right time and have one's eyes open."
For me, one of those instants began when I received my copy of Unmentionables.
December 10, 2015
REVIEW by Christopher Hawthorne Moss
An astonishing look at an unusual family in the Civil War period. The Hollands and the Askews, white planters and their slaves, watch as the turmoil preceding the war turns their lives upside down. Dorothy, the daughter of one family, is fiercely independent, while Cato, who is both the slave and son of the wealthier planter, lives in between the two worlds. William, his half brother, and Dorothy have a rocky engagement beset with the bride’s anti-war, anti-slavery sentiments, while Cato, attracted to the fiercely anti-white field hand Jimmy, are the two love stories that bind this novel. It is remarkable how many of the cast of this novel have their values challenged by exposure to the artist, Erastus Hicks, a Quaker who encourages both Cato and Dorothy’s independence. Teaching Cato to read, he is the author ultimately of the beating that causes both Cato and his lover, the field hand Jimmy, to run away. At the same time Hicks encourages Dorothy’s independence, her growing anti-slavery and pacifist positions, which, in a slightly convoluted way, causes her fiancé William to be captured by Union soldiers and sent to a prison in Chicago, where Dorothy heads in hope of freeing William..
Greene has a fascinating writing style, skipping between characters including the two dogs, Venus and Scout, to show yet another perspective on just how simple and how complex they live their lives. One must conclude in fine that the artist is the one with the most conflict, his attraction to Cato influencing him to lend his support to the runaways. The power of sex and family loyalty mix in disparate characters and settings to lead all to disrupt the expected drives of the characters. The wealthier planter, Askew, and his lust for a slave creates Cato. Dorothy and William are overwhelmed by their attraction to each other. Hicks is drawn sexually to Cato which leads him to teach him to read, and Jimmy overcomes his rage against whites to bond with Cato. The family loyalty is at the heart of everyone’s ability to accept the runaways in the final analysis: Askew able to accept Cato when he sees the young man accepts Cato as his brother, William’s decision to stay north of the Ohio River when both Askew and Dorothy join him, and most notably Ella’s being able to step away from Jimmy to support Dorothy and her marriage to William.
There were a couple things that puzzled me about this book, and I have no doubt someone will explain these to me. One is the title, UNMENTIONABLES. Surely this word is intended to signify more than just a slang term for underwear which doesn’t even appear in the book until well past the halfway point. I will have to forego the other puzzling occurrence to avoid a huge spoiler. This is an intelligent book, though not, as the blurb describes it, the only book about African American gay lovers. There are others, though arguably few and far between. The literary critics must simply be overlooking the GLBTQ romance publishers and their books. But if this book is the entrée of readers into the broader genre, so much the better.
Proofed by one Love Editing.
An astonishing look at an unusual family in the Civil War period. The Hollands and the Askews, white planters and their slaves, watch as the turmoil preceding the war turns their lives upside down. Dorothy, the daughter of one family, is fiercely independent, while Cato, who is both the slave and son of the wealthier planter, lives in between the two worlds. William, his half brother, and Dorothy have a rocky engagement beset with the bride’s anti-war, anti-slavery sentiments, while Cato, attracted to the fiercely anti-white field hand Jimmy, are the two love stories that bind this novel. It is remarkable how many of the cast of this novel have their values challenged by exposure to the artist, Erastus Hicks, a Quaker who encourages both Cato and Dorothy’s independence. Teaching Cato to read, he is the author ultimately of the beating that causes both Cato and his lover, the field hand Jimmy, to run away. At the same time Hicks encourages Dorothy’s independence, her growing anti-slavery and pacifist positions, which, in a slightly convoluted way, causes her fiancé William to be captured by Union soldiers and sent to a prison in Chicago, where Dorothy heads in hope of freeing William..
Greene has a fascinating writing style, skipping between characters including the two dogs, Venus and Scout, to show yet another perspective on just how simple and how complex they live their lives. One must conclude in fine that the artist is the one with the most conflict, his attraction to Cato influencing him to lend his support to the runaways. The power of sex and family loyalty mix in disparate characters and settings to lead all to disrupt the expected drives of the characters. The wealthier planter, Askew, and his lust for a slave creates Cato. Dorothy and William are overwhelmed by their attraction to each other. Hicks is drawn sexually to Cato which leads him to teach him to read, and Jimmy overcomes his rage against whites to bond with Cato. The family loyalty is at the heart of everyone’s ability to accept the runaways in the final analysis: Askew able to accept Cato when he sees the young man accepts Cato as his brother, William’s decision to stay north of the Ohio River when both Askew and Dorothy join him, and most notably Ella’s being able to step away from Jimmy to support Dorothy and her marriage to William.
There were a couple things that puzzled me about this book, and I have no doubt someone will explain these to me. One is the title, UNMENTIONABLES. Surely this word is intended to signify more than just a slang term for underwear which doesn’t even appear in the book until well past the halfway point. I will have to forego the other puzzling occurrence to avoid a huge spoiler. This is an intelligent book, though not, as the blurb describes it, the only book about African American gay lovers. There are others, though arguably few and far between. The literary critics must simply be overlooking the GLBTQ romance publishers and their books. But if this book is the entrée of readers into the broader genre, so much the better.
Proofed by one Love Editing.
February 19, 2020
What an interesting and thought provoking tale. .
What an interesting and thought provoking tale of life in the South at the start of the Civil War in the USA. The characters came alive as the tale begins to unfold with the mysterious Mr Hicks, a quaker and artist affects the lifes of two wealthy landowners and their slaves. A chance meeting with Cato opened the eyes of this young half black slave in many ways. Finally meeting Jimmy led to an unmentionable relationship and circumstances that torn them apart. You must read this book to fill in the blanks. To find out the effect on everyone due to the civil war how several lifes where changed. You will want to buy book two to followvthis story.
What an interesting and thought provoking tale of life in the South at the start of the Civil War in the USA. The characters came alive as the tale begins to unfold with the mysterious Mr Hicks, a quaker and artist affects the lifes of two wealthy landowners and their slaves. A chance meeting with Cato opened the eyes of this young half black slave in many ways. Finally meeting Jimmy led to an unmentionable relationship and circumstances that torn them apart. You must read this book to fill in the blanks. To find out the effect on everyone due to the civil war how several lifes where changed. You will want to buy book two to followvthis story.
July 28, 2020
Summer Rain
Where do I begin where do I and where do I start this novel has truly been a journey.. as one who has a degree in history and one who loves to read slave narratives one who likes stories about the depot South because of the gentility of it this novel was good a black man I'm not a slave sympathizer or a southern Confederate states sympathizer I see them for what they were but I love literature and I love a good story I love when a narrative is weaved in and out like a good basket bin made and this was good.I like the development of the characters in the development of the store I like the slow pace of the love that develop between Jimmy and Cato it was good it was like a South rayne during the summer on grass.
Where do I begin where do I and where do I start this novel has truly been a journey.. as one who has a degree in history and one who loves to read slave narratives one who likes stories about the depot South because of the gentility of it this novel was good a black man I'm not a slave sympathizer or a southern Confederate states sympathizer I see them for what they were but I love literature and I love a good story I love when a narrative is weaved in and out like a good basket bin made and this was good.I like the development of the characters in the development of the store I like the slow pace of the love that develop between Jimmy and Cato it was good it was like a South rayne during the summer on grass.
June 23, 2012
This was a nice leisurely historical fiction. It was not something that I would normally pick up given the description was "gone with the wind meets brokeback mountain." However, I was glad I didn't judge a book by its cover. The story did not solely focus on the two male slaves who were in love, but it was very descriptive and followed all the characters. I could see it turn into a made-for-tv movie. I would have liked to see more about the love story between the male and female lead who were in love. While it was not a gripping page turner, this is a nice book to intersperse into your reading if you are into reading more than one book at once.
August 16, 2016
Excellent book thought provoking
I enjoyed this book. There are at least eight main characters! Each faced monumental life altering decisions due to the quite ordinary circumstances and the resulting consequences, requiring even more. There were some suspenseful moments throughout, but an almost too good to be true ending that was satisfyingly happy even though unrealistic. I will definitely be reading more by this talented author.
I enjoyed this book. There are at least eight main characters! Each faced monumental life altering decisions due to the quite ordinary circumstances and the resulting consequences, requiring even more. There were some suspenseful moments throughout, but an almost too good to be true ending that was satisfyingly happy even though unrealistic. I will definitely be reading more by this talented author.
December 2, 2014
Despite the lofty theme that love makes humanity possible even in the most dehumanizing of situations, this historical novel set during the Civil War Era, teeters on the edge of the optimistic side of believability, but occasionally leaves the bounds of reality. Straight southern gentry in love, homosexual black slaves in love, a much too easy escape to the North, etc, etc.
October 28, 2022
Very well written
While obviously not based totally on real life, there is enough real historical context to makes this very believable. This is my second read of this book. Had to refresh my memory to read book 2
While obviously not based totally on real life, there is enough real historical context to makes this very believable. This is my second read of this book. Had to refresh my memory to read book 2
February 1, 2024
Very good read
Good author with a lot of heart. The story may seem implausible at times but it is so good and the characters are so real you end up believing. Will read more from this author.
Good author with a lot of heart. The story may seem implausible at times but it is so good and the characters are so real you end up believing. Will read more from this author.
August 28, 2018
Hmmm....oh wow
First let me say this book is NOT filled with gay erotica. There are two scenes of homosexual sex, which I skipped over, and one scene of fornication between two heterosexuals that was NOT explicit. The book hardly used the N word which was quite refreshing. I have read so many historical fiction books that I felt that word was quite overused. This author managed to tell the story Without having to use that word 2000 times but still got the Point across. Without giving away too much I barely could stand Jimmy he was an arrogant, ungrateful and well ignorant man. He proved the fact one should never judge by a man's skin or plight in life of one's ignorance. I did not want Cato to be with him! I was quite fond of Erastus and wanted Cato to choose him if that was the lifestyle he chose to live. Dorothy and Ella and Sammy and Venus and Scout(the canines) I grew very attached to. I was so happy the decision Ella made at the end. I want to say so much more but I do not want to give away spoilers. I am now going on to book two of this series that I'm sure is going to be verrrry interesting.
First let me say this book is NOT filled with gay erotica. There are two scenes of homosexual sex, which I skipped over, and one scene of fornication between two heterosexuals that was NOT explicit. The book hardly used the N word which was quite refreshing. I have read so many historical fiction books that I felt that word was quite overused. This author managed to tell the story Without having to use that word 2000 times but still got the Point across. Without giving away too much I barely could stand Jimmy he was an arrogant, ungrateful and well ignorant man. He proved the fact one should never judge by a man's skin or plight in life of one's ignorance. I did not want Cato to be with him! I was quite fond of Erastus and wanted Cato to choose him if that was the lifestyle he chose to live. Dorothy and Ella and Sammy and Venus and Scout(the canines) I grew very attached to. I was so happy the decision Ella made at the end. I want to say so much more but I do not want to give away spoilers. I am now going on to book two of this series that I'm sure is going to be verrrry interesting.
November 26, 2021
This book gets a begrudging three stars instead of two for two reasons -- complex, imperfect and sympathetic characters. Well, a few of them, at least. And, the story itself was well-conceived and had good momentum. Those two virtues aside, this book was often annoying and tedious and even excruciating to read. Essays on art, essays on Christian pacifism, an essay randomly written from the point of view of a dog -- the list could go on and on -- are all stapled together and made into a book in this case. And it doesn't work. The endless monologues and philosophizing and lecturing got so old, so fast. And I am compelled to condemn the over-the-top sex scenes -- they read more like a 1970s-era crotch novel and they just didn't fit into a sexual subtext that could have been so much more subtle, ambiguous, fraught with conflict and contradiction, erotic and, most likely, realistic. While this subject matter is most definitely unexplored territory in fiction, in my view it needs a better effort than this one. Mr. Greene -- you are a fine writer and thinker. You need better editing and criticism prior to publishing.
December 9, 2021
A mystifying read...
I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything quite like this novel. It takes place just before and during the early months of the Civil War. Two different families, each owning slaves, are connected by their son and daughter, the Askew’s and the Holland’s.
Life in the south, under slavery, was difficult and demanding. As war ensues, people on both sides of the issue struggle with how to continue on with their lives and their loves.
William Askew, who is in love with Dorothy Holland, feels like he must enlist in the confederate army. Dorothy, who is an abolitionist, or believes that she is, is a palled when she finds out that William has in fact enlisted and will be a confederate officer.
Mr. Askew, who has fathered two sons ( and we find out later that he loves both), William and Cato (his son by a black slave). And then there is a gay relationship between some of the characters.
Through the guidance of a painter and friend, both Dorothy and William are eventually brought back together.
Once again, this is a different kind of story as it brings multiple acts of love and heroism to the forefront Even during the terrible Civil War years.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything quite like this novel. It takes place just before and during the early months of the Civil War. Two different families, each owning slaves, are connected by their son and daughter, the Askew’s and the Holland’s.
Life in the south, under slavery, was difficult and demanding. As war ensues, people on both sides of the issue struggle with how to continue on with their lives and their loves.
William Askew, who is in love with Dorothy Holland, feels like he must enlist in the confederate army. Dorothy, who is an abolitionist, or believes that she is, is a palled when she finds out that William has in fact enlisted and will be a confederate officer.
Mr. Askew, who has fathered two sons ( and we find out later that he loves both), William and Cato (his son by a black slave). And then there is a gay relationship between some of the characters.
Through the guidance of a painter and friend, both Dorothy and William are eventually brought back together.
Once again, this is a different kind of story as it brings multiple acts of love and heroism to the forefront Even during the terrible Civil War years.
June 26, 2021
Unmentionables started out slow. 50 pages of introducing characters without much happening. But once the introductions were done. Wow!
Two, well, actually three relationships are focused on. The romance between a heterosexual, white, wealthy slave-owning couple, the friendship of the woman with her personal slave and best friend, and the true focus of the book which is the relationship between two black, gay slaves.
The differences and similarities of the large plantation and the smaller family farm and their treatment of their slaves was an interesting backdrop to the storylines. I would add the treatment of free black men and women in the north as another telling storyline.
Definitely worth the read for those interested in personal histories (just hang on until you get past the first 50 pages). The Civil War raging around them is discussed but isn't a primary focus.
Two, well, actually three relationships are focused on. The romance between a heterosexual, white, wealthy slave-owning couple, the friendship of the woman with her personal slave and best friend, and the true focus of the book which is the relationship between two black, gay slaves.
The differences and similarities of the large plantation and the smaller family farm and their treatment of their slaves was an interesting backdrop to the storylines. I would add the treatment of free black men and women in the north as another telling storyline.
Definitely worth the read for those interested in personal histories (just hang on until you get past the first 50 pages). The Civil War raging around them is discussed but isn't a primary focus.
March 6, 2019
It started out slow. Was not sure if I liked the rhetoric, I mean the language seemed forced and too formal, almost Victorian. In the long run I enjoyed the book because the language fit the story so well.
It is a morality tale, old fashioned inasmuch as it captured the root feelings of the time in which it took place.
I put it on my book shelf right next to Louisa May Alcott. Transcendentalism with a GAY plot.
I recommend if.
It is a morality tale, old fashioned inasmuch as it captured the root feelings of the time in which it took place.
I put it on my book shelf right next to Louisa May Alcott. Transcendentalism with a GAY plot.
I recommend if.
Read
December 25, 2020I kinda sorta liked it, but not enough to continue to the second published volume.
It's NOT Gone With The Wind, although it takes place at the same time, this one in Tennessee instead of Georgia. It doesn't really have the scope and sweep of Margaret Mitchell's, but it is groundbreaking in its way, as the first book that seems to have been written about slaves that are gay.
The characters are vivid and believable, I only wish I had enjoyed it more.
It's NOT Gone With The Wind, although it takes place at the same time, this one in Tennessee instead of Georgia. It doesn't really have the scope and sweep of Margaret Mitchell's, but it is groundbreaking in its way, as the first book that seems to have been written about slaves that are gay.
The characters are vivid and believable, I only wish I had enjoyed it more.
June 23, 2019
Very good read
Enjoyed the book very much. It was written especially the love scenes between the men. Characters well developed felt like I knew them.
Enjoyed the book very much. It was written especially the love scenes between the men. Characters well developed felt like I knew them.
May 16, 2022
Sorry- I could not bear to continue reading this one. Too repetitive, too far fetched, too many perspectives ( the dog even!). Trying too hard - and not making it.
July 10, 2022
Gay "gone with the wind" : 2 male slaves fall in love . Very well written. I could see this being made into a movie or tv mini-series. Can't wait to read the sequel.
February 6, 2023
Intriguing with an unusual subject to touch on with valuable, although sometimes lacking, ethical lessons but the narrative became naïve and simplistic over the read.
March 4, 2023
Interesting and an easy read
January 1, 2024
Very good read about love in the wrong place and time.
March 17, 2024
I made it a couple of chapters and then gave up.
Having an axe to grind does not make a good basis for a novel.
Interesting idea - just needs a different approach.
Having an axe to grind does not make a good basis for a novel.
Interesting idea - just needs a different approach.
March 20, 2025
Unmentionables
Loved this first book and can't wait to start the second in the series. Characters and story live were great.
Loved this first book and can't wait to start the second in the series. Characters and story live were great.
Read
December 9, 2015UNMENTIONABLES is an epic story of two pairs of lovers in the Civil War south. One couple is straight, white, and wealthy. The other couple is gay, black, and enslaved.
Their fates are intertwined in ways that none of them could have imagined.
Jimmy, a field hand, meets Cato, a house servant from a nearby plantation. At first, Jimmy, who despises whites, mistakes Cato for a white man but soon discovers that Cato is both a slave and the illegitimate son of the plantation owner Augustus Askew. As they become acquainted, Jimmy's fascination with Cato grows into romantic love.
UNMENTIONABLES is also the story of Dorothy Holland, whose parents own Jimmy and his sister, Ella. Dorothy does not want any man to control her life, or to prevent her from granting freedom to Ella, her lifelong friend. When Dorothy falls in love with Cato’s white half brother, William Askew, she must persuade him to agree to her terms—and betray his role as a Confederate army officer.
Now a Book of the Year award winner! (Gay literary fiction / Gay historical fiction) A landmark in gay black fiction, UNMENTIONABLES tells the story that was never told before, the story of gay African American slaves.
REVIEW by Christopher Hawthorne Moss
An astonishing look at an unusual family in the Civil War period. The Hollands and the Askews, white planters and their slaves, watch as the turmoil preceding the war turns their lives upside down. Dorothy, the daughter of one family, is fiercely independent, while Cato, who is both the slave and son of the wealthier planter, lives in between the two worlds. William, his half brother, and Dorothy have a rocky engagement beset with the bride’s anti-war, anti-slavery sentiments, while Cato, attracted to the fiercely anti-white field hand Jimmy, are the two love stories that bind this novel. It is remarkable how many of the cast of this novel have their values challenged by exposure to the artist, Erastus Hicks, a Quaker who encourages both Cato and Dorothy’s independence. Teaching Cato to read, he is the author ultimately of the beating that causes both Cato and his lover, the field hand Jimmy, to run away. At the same time Hicks encourages Dorothy’s independence, her growing anti-slavery and pacifist positions, which, in a slightly convoluted way, causes her fiancé William to be captured by Union soldiers and sent to a prison in Chicago, where Dorothy heads in hope of freeing William..
Greene has a fascinating writing style, skipping between characters including the two dogs, Venus and Scout, to show yet another perspective on just how simple and how complex they live their lives. One must conclude in fine that the artist is the one with the most conflict, his attraction to Cato influencing him to lend his support to the runaways. The power of sex and family loyalty mix in disparate characters and settings to lead all to disrupt the expected drives of the characters. The wealthier planter, Askew, and his lust for a slave creates Cato. Dorothy and William are overwhelmed by their attraction to each other. Hicks is drawn sexually to Cato which leads him to teach him to read, and Jimmy overcomes his rage against whites to bond with Cato. The family loyalty is at the heart of everyone’s ability to accept the runaways in the final analysis: Askew able to accept Cato when he sees the young man accepts Cato as his brother, William’s decision to stay north of the Ohio River when both Askew and Dorothy join him, and most notably Ella’s being able to step away from Jimmy to support Dorothy and her marriage to William.
There were a couple things that puzzled me about this book, and I have no doubt someone will explain these to me. One is the title, UNMENTIONABLES. Surely this word is intended to signify more than just a slang term for underwear which doesn’t even appear in the book until well past the halfway point. I will have to forego the other puzzling occurrence to avoid a huge spoiler. This is an intelligent book, though not, as the blurb describes it, the only book about African American gay lovers. There are others, though arguably few and far between. The literary critics must simply be overlooking the GLBTQ romance publishers and their books. But if this book is the entrée of readers into the broader genre, so much the better.
Their fates are intertwined in ways that none of them could have imagined.
Jimmy, a field hand, meets Cato, a house servant from a nearby plantation. At first, Jimmy, who despises whites, mistakes Cato for a white man but soon discovers that Cato is both a slave and the illegitimate son of the plantation owner Augustus Askew. As they become acquainted, Jimmy's fascination with Cato grows into romantic love.
UNMENTIONABLES is also the story of Dorothy Holland, whose parents own Jimmy and his sister, Ella. Dorothy does not want any man to control her life, or to prevent her from granting freedom to Ella, her lifelong friend. When Dorothy falls in love with Cato’s white half brother, William Askew, she must persuade him to agree to her terms—and betray his role as a Confederate army officer.
Now a Book of the Year award winner! (Gay literary fiction / Gay historical fiction) A landmark in gay black fiction, UNMENTIONABLES tells the story that was never told before, the story of gay African American slaves.
REVIEW by Christopher Hawthorne Moss
An astonishing look at an unusual family in the Civil War period. The Hollands and the Askews, white planters and their slaves, watch as the turmoil preceding the war turns their lives upside down. Dorothy, the daughter of one family, is fiercely independent, while Cato, who is both the slave and son of the wealthier planter, lives in between the two worlds. William, his half brother, and Dorothy have a rocky engagement beset with the bride’s anti-war, anti-slavery sentiments, while Cato, attracted to the fiercely anti-white field hand Jimmy, are the two love stories that bind this novel. It is remarkable how many of the cast of this novel have their values challenged by exposure to the artist, Erastus Hicks, a Quaker who encourages both Cato and Dorothy’s independence. Teaching Cato to read, he is the author ultimately of the beating that causes both Cato and his lover, the field hand Jimmy, to run away. At the same time Hicks encourages Dorothy’s independence, her growing anti-slavery and pacifist positions, which, in a slightly convoluted way, causes her fiancé William to be captured by Union soldiers and sent to a prison in Chicago, where Dorothy heads in hope of freeing William..
Greene has a fascinating writing style, skipping between characters including the two dogs, Venus and Scout, to show yet another perspective on just how simple and how complex they live their lives. One must conclude in fine that the artist is the one with the most conflict, his attraction to Cato influencing him to lend his support to the runaways. The power of sex and family loyalty mix in disparate characters and settings to lead all to disrupt the expected drives of the characters. The wealthier planter, Askew, and his lust for a slave creates Cato. Dorothy and William are overwhelmed by their attraction to each other. Hicks is drawn sexually to Cato which leads him to teach him to read, and Jimmy overcomes his rage against whites to bond with Cato. The family loyalty is at the heart of everyone’s ability to accept the runaways in the final analysis: Askew able to accept Cato when he sees the young man accepts Cato as his brother, William’s decision to stay north of the Ohio River when both Askew and Dorothy join him, and most notably Ella’s being able to step away from Jimmy to support Dorothy and her marriage to William.
There were a couple things that puzzled me about this book, and I have no doubt someone will explain these to me. One is the title, UNMENTIONABLES. Surely this word is intended to signify more than just a slang term for underwear which doesn’t even appear in the book until well past the halfway point. I will have to forego the other puzzling occurrence to avoid a huge spoiler. This is an intelligent book, though not, as the blurb describes it, the only book about African American gay lovers. There are others, though arguably few and far between. The literary critics must simply be overlooking the GLBTQ romance publishers and their books. But if this book is the entrée of readers into the broader genre, so much the better.
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