The Bitterweed Path: A Rediscovered Novel (Chapel Hill Books) [Paperback]

Thomas Hal Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 1996 | Series: Chapel Hill Books

This long out-of-print and newly rediscovered novel tells the story of two boys growing up in the cotton country of Mississippi a generation after the Civil War. Originally published in 1950, the novel's unique contribution lies in its subtle engagement of homosexuality and cross-class love. In ###The Bitterweed Path#, Thomas Hal Phillips vividly recreates rural Mississippi at the turn of the century. In elegant prose, he draws on the Old Testament story of David and Jonathan and writes of the friendship and love between two boys--one a sharecropper's son and the other the son of the landlord--and the complications that arise when the father of one of the boys falls in love with his son's friend. Part of a very small body of gay literature of the period, ###The Bitterweed Path# does not sensationalize homosexual love but instead portrays sexuality as a continuum of human behavior. The result is a book that challenges many assumptions about gay representation in the first half of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"The author's readable style and ability to create a feeling of ever-growing tension will hold the reader from beginning to end," said LJ's reviewer of this novel (LJ 6/15/50), which concerns the love between two boys in Mississippi a generation after the Civil War. Its homosexual theme no doubt limited its original release, but the book should find a much wider audience now.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Originally published in 1950, ###The Bitterweed Path# tells the story of friendship and love between two boys growing up in the cotton country of Mississippi a generation after the Civil War. A fine example of the southern literary tradition, the novel is also part of a very small body of gay literature of the period. As such, it challenges many assumptions about gay representation in the first half of the twentieth century. "###The Bitterweed Path# is lyrical, sexy, and fascinating--a haunting work of art from a time and psychological place that is illuminating to revisit in light of where the world is today."--Howard Cruse, author of ###Stuck Rubber Baby# "A small gem of a homoerotic novel, written about a time and a place when gay didn't exist, but male love did. We owe our thanks to John Howard for rediscovering it, and to Thomas Hal Phillips for writing it."--John D'Emilio, author of ###Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940@-1970#

"[This book] is a delicate, sensitive work, written in a warm, quiet rhythm which creates and maintains a mood and an atmosphere proper to the story's locale and period. . . . Phillips has made the action of his story flow as effortlessly as time itself; he has brought [Southern rural] life during the early years of the century into the sort of believable reality which other Southern writers carefully avoid."--Thomas Sugrue, ###New York Times Book Review#, September 10, 1950

"[Phillips's] readable style and his ability to create a feeling of ever-growing tension will hold the reader from beginning to end."--###Library Journal#, June 15, 1950

"###The Bitterweed Path# is an extraordinary find. It will force many critics to reexamine the nature of pre-Stonewall gay fiction and the range of how homosexuality was constructed in postwar America. It is an important, overlooked book."--David Bergman, author of ###Gaiety Transfigured: Gay Self-Representation in American Literature#

"Thomas Hal Phillips's 1950 novel, ###The Bitterweed Path#, is a remarkable rediscovery. It is in itself a moving, subtle, skillful work of fiction. And its rare depiction of homoerotic relationships in an era in which the subject was largely tabooed, redoubles the novel's importance and impact. John Howard's excellent introduction to the book, placing it in historical context, further adds to the importance of this publishing event."--Martin Duberman, author of ###Black Mountain#, ###Paul Robeson#, ###Cures#, and ###Stonewall#

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (May 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807845957
• ISBN-13: 978-0807845950
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #848,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sublty told story of love and frienship, January 5, 2010

By 

Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Bitterweed Path: A Rediscovered Novel (Chapel Hill Books) (Paperback)

First published in 1950, The Bitterweed Path is a story of love between men in the American South a generation after the Civil War. Two young boys, Darrell and Roger, meet at a school athletics event, they instantly become friends. Darrell's father is a no good tenant farmer, Roger's father, Malcolm Pitt a wealthy land owner; when Darrell's father rents land from the Pitts,the boys' friendship is cemented while Malcolm takes a fatherly interest in Darrell.

The friendship between Darrell and Roger and his father grows with the story, Malcolm sees in Darrell the son that Roger, destined for an education, can never be; he loves Darrell more than his own son. That his love is at times expressed physically is subtly suggested, as is the intimacy between Darrell and Roger. There are inevitably tension in friendship the between the two boys, but the remain steadfast as brothers.

The Bitterweed Path is a moving, beautifully told story. With so much literature today that leaves nothing to the imagination, this novel proves that as much, and move, can be achieved without resort to graphic description. A novel worth reading for the quality of the prose alone, but all the more so for the beauty of the friendship it depcits.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Endearing and heart warming, June 29, 2000

By 

David Oliveras - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bitterweed Path: A Rediscovered Novel (Chapel Hill Books) (Paperback)

This book vividly brings to life the story of two young men in love in rural America. The author does an excellent job of recreating the details of the time period. Worth reading. This is a forgotten treasure of gay literature.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sweet beautiful read., April 9, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bitterweed Path: A Rediscovered Novel (Chapel Hill Books) (Paperback)

This book reminds us of what it is like to love and realize that the feelings that make up the sum total of who we are, are forbbiden. Those feelings are first forbidden by the society that we live in and then by ourselves. No matter how we live, our love, our passion haunts us behind whatever face we put on for the public