Unmentionables — David Greene

Unmentionables is the story of two pairs of lovers in the Civil War south. One couple is straight, white and wealthy. The other couple is gay, black and enslaved. Jimmy, a field hand, meets Cato, a house servant from a nearby plantation. At first, Jimmy, who despises whites, mistakes Cato for a white man, but soon discovers that Cato is both a slave and the illegitimate son of the plantation owner Augustus Askew. As they become acquainted, Jimmy's fascination with Cato grows into romantic love. Unmentionables is also the story of Dorothy Holland, whose parents own Jimmy and his sister Ella. Dorothy does not want any man to control her life, or to prevent her from granting freedom to Ella, her lifelong friend. When Dorothy falls in love with Cato's white half-brother, William Askew, she must persuade him to agree to her terms-and betray his role as a Confederate army officer.