L'envers d'un homme de bien : roman

"The homosexual in literature" by Noel I. Garde is a critical literary survey written in the mid-20th century. It likely maps how same-sex desire and identity have been depicted across periods and languages, pairing synopses with appraisal of tone, bias, and subtext. The work would appeal to readers seeking a guided tour of queer representation in the canon, from veiled allusions to frank portrayals, and to those interested in censorship, reception, and evolving attitudes. The opening of the provided narrative follows Monsieur Brossard, a self-satisfied Parisian bourgeois who has turned his salon into a sanctified library and rules his home with pomp, while his wife Thérèse languishes in long illness. He fusses over menus and wines, preens at his insurance office, flirts in thought on the boulevards, and dotes on rare bindings—especially a clandestine “Enfer” of erotic volumes—before returning to find Thérèse suddenly dead, a loss that chiefly disturbs his sense of decorum. After a ceremonious funeral, he reclaims her boudoir for his secret books, discovers her devout writings and a vow to go to Lourdes, and burnishes her legend to elevate his own standing. With the outbreak of war, he panics, then postures as a bracing patriot while spending evenings with his colleague Lamorille and the latter’s alluring wife; a dashing nephew brings fragmentary news from the front, deepening their unease. Sleepless and shaken, Brossard prays in his late wife’s room and resolves to fulfill her vow by departing for Lourdes at once. (This is an automatically generated summary.)