The Fall of Valor is a 1946 novel by Charles Jackson that is widely considered one of the first major American novels to deal openly with the theme of homosexuality. It is a psychological study of a man’s dawning realization of his sexual identity and the impact it has on his marriage.
The novel centers on John Grandin, a literature professor in his mid-forties, and his wife, Ethel. They take a summer vacation to Nantucket with the fading hope of salvaging their ten-year marriage, which has become a “mere duty”. The backdrop is World War II America, and Nantucket is crowded with service members on leave.Â
During their stay, John becomes fascinated by Captain Cliff Haumann, a handsome, vital young Marine officer who is the physical embodiment of the masculinity and wartime participation that John feels he lacks. As John’s admiration deepens into a consuming love, the hidden tensions in his marriage erupt, and he is forced to confront the truth about his long-repressed homosexuality. The holiday, intended to bring them closer, instead “blasts their marriage wider apart than ever”.
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