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The Charioteer: A Virago Modern Classic

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Charioteer: A Virago Modern Classic
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Mary Renault
Introduction by Simon Russell Beale
SeriesVirago Modern Classics
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:432
Dimensions(mm): Height 127,Width 197
Category/GenreModern and contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
ISBN/Barcode 9781844089505
ClassificationsDewey:823.912
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publication Date 7 November 2013
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Injured at Dunkirk, Laurie Odell, a young corporal, is recovering at a rural veterans' hospital. There he meets Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. The men find solace in each other's friendship, which slowly develops into a covert, chaste romance. Then Ralph Lanyon appears, a mentor from Laurie's school days, and now a naval officer. Through him, Laurie is drawn into a tight-knit circle of gay men with few illusions about life, and for whom liaisons are fleeting. He is forced to choose between the ideals of a perfect friendship and the pleasures of experience. First published in 1953, THE CHARIOTEER is a a tender, intelligent coming-of-age novel and a bold, unapologetic portrayal of homosexuality that stands with Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar and James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room as a landmark work in gay literature.

Author Biography

Mary Renault (1905-1983) was born in London and educated at St Hughs, Oxford. She trained as a nurse at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary, where she met her lifelong partner, Julie Mullard. Her first novel, Purposes of Love, was published in 1937. In 1948, after North Face won a MGM prize worth $150,000, she and Mullard emigrated to South Africa. There, Renault was able to write forthrightly about homosexual relationships for the first time - in her masterpiece, THE CHARIOTEER (1953), and then in her first historical novel, The Last of the Wine (1956). Renault's vivid novels set in the ancient world brought her worldwide fame. In 2010 Fire From Heaven was shortlisted for the Lost Booker of 1970.

Reviews

Emotionally intelligent, beautifully written and deeply moving, it transcends categorisations. -- Peter Parker Daily Telegraph A stunningly good book -- Antonia Senior The Times A tender coming-of-age love story from one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century Daily Express