Here’s the set-up:

“…surpasses the majority of Civil War novels by bringing together two enthralling love stories. Superb historical fiction with a contemporary angle; an enlightening look at the hidden elements of our past.”

This book was fascinating from beginning to end. It is one of those rare books one never wants to end. The story is one never told before, in a situation everyone can learn from. Part of what makes the book so enjoyable is that the style is very reminiscent of 19th century English novels — Trollope, for example. Highly recommended.

Unmentionables by David Greene is set in the American Civil War south and recounts the intertwining stories of two couples, Jimmy and Cato, who are gay, black, and enslaved, and Dorothy and William, who are straight, white, and wealthy. If this time period and subject matter seem a tad too distant to relate to your present 21st century lives, fret not. History in this work is used masterfully to transform the specific into the universal. Unmentionables is about love – romantic and otherwise…


Mr. Greene’s great appreciation of all that is sensual is equaled by his intellectual understanding of relationships that cross established racial, social, sexual, and political boundaries. In a style that is straightforward without being encyclopedic, poetic without being over-embellished, and informative without being didactic, he achieves that balance of form and content required for a successful, and, in this case, beautiful work of art. When Erastus explains to Dorothy why he has chosen his itinerant lifestyle, he states:

“As I said before, so much that is beautiful in life happens in an instant. But one must contrive to be in the right place at the right time and have one’s eyes open.”

For me, one of those instants began when I received my copy of Unmentionables.