A Marriage Below Zero (1889), written by Alan Dale, is a pioneering work of early gay fiction and one of the first English-language novels to center a homosexual male character in a serious, tragic narrative. The story is told from the perspective of Elsie Bouverie, a young woman who enters into what appears to be a promising marriage with the charming and refined Arthur Ravener. At first, their life together seems socially enviable—secure, respectable, and filled with the expectations of Victorian domestic happiness.
Arthur grows emotionally distant, evasive, and restless. Elsie senses that she is not the true object of her husband’s affection. Gradually, she discovers the devastating truth: Arthur is romantically and physically involved with another man. In an era when homosexuality was not only taboo but criminalized, this revelation shatters her understanding of marriage, loyalty, and identity.
Mark McNease is the author of the Kyle Callahan Mysteries, three of which (six total) have been best sellers on Kindle. He has released four Marshall James thrillers, two Maggie Dahl Mysteries, and three books in the horror/supernatural genre under the name M.A. McNease. He has also won two Emmys for Outstanding Children’s Program for Into the Outdoors, a TV show he co-created that is now in its 25th year, and he is a former board member for the Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter. He lives in the woods in rural New Jersey. He conducts local workshops on writing and journaling.
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