Freeman Benjamin Dowd

While the modern novel format dates back at least as far as the 18th century, novels dealing with desire or relationships between men were rare during the early part of the 20th century, and nearly non-existent before then, due to the taboo nature of homosexuality at the time. Many early novels depicting (or even alluding to) homosexuality were published anonymously or pseudonymously, or like Maurice, sat unpublished until after the death of the author, reflecting authors' fear of opprobrium, ce…