Uh huh.

I gots to get me some of that, thinks I, and I begin to read. And read. 376 pages later I close the book on the emerald-eyed Robert Whyte ("Almost too beautiful to be alive") flung into a terrifying web of danger and lust with Donough Gaylord ("the epitome of elegance and sophistication"), the brooding master of Gaywyck.

In classic gothic story dynamic, neurotic and sickly seventeen-year old Robert is hired to catalogue the enormous library at the great secluded mansion of Gaywyck in turn of the century (last century) Long Island. It's a given that Robert falls under the spell of the master of Gaywyck, "New York's most elegible bachelor," a man possessed of "perfect dark Irish beauty" and a split personality. What follows is standard gothic procedure: sinister servants, secret passages, threatening missives, nervous collapses, apparitions, family secrets, gay sex...

Itself like a gothic heroine urgently crying out for rescue, never has a book so begged for rewrite. GAYWYCK is a goldmine of historical detail, chock full of literary and philosophical allusions, as well as references to art, music and architecture. Unfortunately, unlike Argiri's THE GOD IN FLIGHT (which was clearly influenced HUGELY by this novel), here the impressive research overwhelms the convoluted plot. This is so often the problem with historical fiction. Instead of subtly weaving in period details (as one would find with novels actually written in the era), the book turns into a tutorial.

Another problem is that, with the possible exception of the cat, everyone in the book is a freak. Not very likable freaks at that. GAYWYCK is peopled by mannerisms and nervous tics as opposed to fleshed-out characters. It's hard to tell if our protagonists act in or out of character because their characters are so sketchy, but certainly they enjoy the most unsatisfying and unwholesome interaction--even for the gothic genre.

Still, the book is a classic (mostly from its position is a milestone in gay literature) and worth reading. I suspect its true long-run value lies in its serving as inspiration for writers who followed.

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:

Welcome back, Donough, melancholy lord of the manor  Oct 09, 2000
By Randall Ivey "Randall"
It is good to see Alyson returning this venerable old classic to print. It's a rare example of the gay gothic and an exceedingly overwrought book, but in this time of literary anemia, it's nice to see a novel written in ornate prose. And the novel's damned entertaining too.

This is high class trash and a hoary old scenario, the kind of thing Bulwer-Lytton or, more exactly, Hall Caine, would have produced a hundred years before. Highly sensitive Robert Whyte is hired as librarian to Donough Gaylord, the secretive young master of Gaywyck, a fabulous manor just outside NYC. An attraction between the two is immediate, but Donough is hesitant to give in to the younger man's ardor. Why? Could it have something to do with his deceased twin brother? Hmmmm.

Virga never scimps on description. His book could well serve as a primer on 19th century architecture, ornithology, music, painting, horticulture, literature, so on and so forth. The mass of detail weighs the story down at times, when the reader is anxious for things to proceed and the dark secrets to be exposed. But stick with it. It is worth the wait. And the cast of characters is the nuttiest collection of kooks since Priestley's THE OLD DARK HOUSE. It's a hoot.

11 of 12 found the following review helpful:

One of the Best Parodies I have Ever Read  Jun 14, 2001
By Sires "I like mysteries (particularly British ones, historical fiction and nonfiction, science fiction and fantasy."
I read this book in 1980 when it first came out and immediately fell in love. The overwrought purple prose, the excessive digressions into 19th century minutiae, the classic "gothick" plot reminded me of both the gothic novels published in the mid victorian era-- LeFanu's Uncle Silas, anyone? and the then current gothic romance market.

The beautiful pale Robert Whyte trips as lightly though this book as any nightgown clad governess clutching a candle, Donough is a master of brooding, more effective than most Owner of Gloomy Old Mansions, and their romance, littered with misunderstandings, has nearly every cliche belonging to the genre. If ever there was a couple who deserved to be together!

I am very happy to see it back in print so I can at last replace my tattered old Avon copy.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

Loved It a gau classic  Nov 20, 2006
By Timothy J. Starkey
This is a beautiful gothic romance. It is unique, captivating and beautiful. Rading some of the other reviewers, it seems the bigger problem is that they did not like or understand the genre.

I inly wish he would right additional things.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

One of the top gay genre novels!  Feb 09, 1998

Billed as "the first gay gothic novel" in the Advocate, this book opened to my thirteen year old mind, the possiblity that gay life existed beyond the parks & bars. The novel follows the travails of Robert, a young orphan, who is invited to the Gaywick estate to be employed as a librarian. Upon arriving he is soon caught up in the intrigues of the estate's residents. Beyond the basics of a gothic novel, the story acts as a primer for classics and art, giving the reader an insight into turn of the century New York. It is possible that this book written before the onset of AIDS, is one of the final glimpses of the optimism that was part of the early gay movement.

See all 25 customer reviews on Amazon.com