Books like Despised & Rejected by A. T. Fitzroy

In July 1914 a family gathers at a holiday hotel in Devon, where a dominant father and socially ambitious mother adore son Dennis. His outsider status is clear from the moment he arrives, as he does not fit the family's conventional expectations. When war breaks out, the narrative shifts to Dennis’s refusal to fight and his abhorrence of violence. He falls in love with Alan and forms a close bond with Antoinette, who eventually embraces her lesbian identity. Dennis wrestles with the label “a musical man” — slang for being gay — and the intense shame it breeds, questioning why nature would grant him a woman’s soul in a man’s body. Throughout the story the backdrop of World War I evolves: early optimism gives way to 1915 horrors, conscription, and the hardships faced by conscientious objectors like Dennis. The novel was published in May 1918 by pacifist publisher C.W. Daniel and banned in September for allegedly prejudicing military recruitment; unsold copies were seized and the publisher fined.

First publish date: 1910