A Different Sin

by Rochelle Hollander Schwab

As the country hurtles toward Civil War, David Carter finds employment as an artist for a New York illustrated paper - and becomes the lover of a fellow newsman. Stricken with guilt for the "sin" of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 187960308X
• ISBN13: 9781879603080
• Release Date: June 1993
• Publisher: Hombres Press
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Well done Civil War story

Rochelle Hollander Schwab's A DIFFERENT SIN was, for me, a wonderful discovery of a little gem that has been pushed aside and has never been given the recognition it deserves. It's a well-researched Civil War story about David, a sketch-artist covering the battles of Grant's Wilderness campaign as a diversion to take him away from his "sin" of same sex attraction. In addition to his internalized homophobia, he is also struggling with his ingrained prejudices against blacks, which is one of the main sources of discord between him and his abolitionist lover, Zach. Living through the harrowing, bloody experiences of the war, David grows to realize that what he thought was perverse - loving another man - really isn't, but the real perversion is right in front of his eyes - namely slavery. Schwab does an excellent job of intertwining realistic fictional characters into the pages of history. I'm not an authority on the Civil War, but everything felt authentic to me. I'll only briefly mention that there were a few editorial gaffes, such as the narrative appearing to switch to first-person, though the author was actually relaying David's thoughts, in which case italics would have solved the issue, but nothing so serious as to greatly distract. A DIFFERENT SIN is a worthy read and you are very likely to learn a few historical facts you probably didn't know. I look forward to reading Schwab's other novels and highly recommend A DIFFERENT SIN. The Filly

A window on the past and present

This book took me back in time and helped me walk a mile in the shoes of someone completely different. The main character lived at a different time, in a different place, and has a different sexual orientation than I have. But in every other way, he's not very different from most people. That plus all the great historical research and realistic characters and situations helped me put myself in his place and understand what it was like to be gay 150 years ago, to be reviled for who you are. And yet this book is not didactic or preachy. It's just a really good story, and a good civil war story at that. If you or someone you know enjoys history and could benefit from seeing the world through the eyes of someone different from himself or herself, this is the book to read.

An unforgettable and compelling story

A Different Sin, which features characters and settings from Rochelle Schwab's earlier novel, As Far As Blood Goes, is a powerful exploration of sexual orientation and of prejudice against those who are "different." Through the story of David Carter, Schwab shows the pain and isolation that went along with being gay in the 1860s, a time when the language didn't even include a word for non-heterosexual love. Born into a Virginia slave-owning family, Carter moves to New York and falls in love with a man. His own "sinful" feelings frighten him, and he tries to escape their intensity by immersing himself in the violence of the Civil War, as a newspaper correspondent. With honesty and sensitivity, Schwab offers a complex, powerful portrait of a man confronting his own nature, against a vivid and well-researched background that doesn't flinch from the horrors of war. A Different Sin is an unforgettable and compelling story of forbidden love, set in a specific time but with themes that are, ultimately, timeless.

Unusual novel about a gay man set during the Civil War

This Civil War era novel by Rochelle Hollander Schwab has an unusual twist -- the protaganist, David, a young artist from Virginia, is gay. Of course, David doesn't realize that he is, or that his sexuality is a large part of what makes him feel so ill at ease with other people. Schwab has written a moving and believable account of David's struggle to understand and accept this aspect of himself during a time when sex and love between two men was termed an "abomination." As an artist for a prominent newsweekly, David is exposed to the horrors of a bloody and terrible war, and these war-time experiences help him resolve his questions concerning his responsibility to himself and to the people he loves.