The Charioteer
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After enduring an injury at Dunkirk during World War II, Laurie Odell is sent to a rural veterans' hospital in England to convalesce. There he befriends the young, bright Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. As they find solace and companionship together in the idyllic surroundings of the hospital, their friendship blooms into a discreet, chaste romance. Then one day, Ralph Lanyon, a mentor from Laurie's schoolboy days, suddenly reappears in Laurie's life, and draws him into a tight-knit social circle of world-weary gay men. Laurie is forced to choose between the sweet ideals of innocence and the distinct pleasures of experience.
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Originally published in the United States in 1959, The Charioteeris a bold, unapologetic portrayal of male homosexuality during World War II that stands with Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillarand Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Storiesas a monumental work in gay literature.
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