Love is Another Country

James Baldwin has been on my reading list for years. Baldwin is considered one of the most “influential writers of the 20^th century;” his name has repeatedly appeared in books I’ve come across on both writing and social justice. However, I’ve avoided reading him because I worried his words would be soul-touching and perspective-changing. His fiction would not be safe, which is good, but also hard.  

I assumed (from a quick internet search) that James Baldwin’s Another Country would be about a quirky cast of characters living in the same neighborhood in the 1950s. “A quirky cast of characters” felt safe, so I checked it out. Although the characters’ quirkiness is true, this book is less “Sesame Street” and more “Sex in the City” without the fashion, light-hearted luncheons, or remorseless sex.

Each chapter is about another person in a group of friends based in Greenwich Village, New York City. Baldwin does this cool fade-in/fade-out trick where the focus shifts toward another character near the end of a chapter. The chapter ends, you flip the page, and (bam!) the perspective is from the character you were starting to learn more about.  

I didn’t pick up on the central theme until almost three hundred pages in, when the brooding writer Vivaldo realizes that “love was a country he knew nothing about (296).”¹ Here are the “countries” (relationships) we visit throughout the book: 

Rufus & Leona

Rufus and Leona have drastically different lives before they meet—Rufus is a Black man raised in Harlem who gigs as a drummer. Leona, a white woman from the Deep South fleeing an abusive relationship, is a new arrival in New York City. She’s unemployed and aimless until she watches Rufus do a set. After the show, she approaches him, they hook up, and she follows him around the city like a puppy.  

I am not a therapist, counselor, psychologist, or even good at giving relationship advice, but I can tell you that someone running away from a horrible relationship should not jump into a new relationship without a bit of self-reflection or time to heal. Unfortunately, Rufus and Leona’s intense physical attraction for each other is punctuated by violent fights. Rufus takes on the role of the physical abuser, and Leona’s mind breaks completely. She goes home to the South, and he commits suicide. This is not the country I want to visit.  

Cass & Richard

Then there is Cass and Richard. Their story is more familiar to me: they married young, had kids, and were the “old people” in their friend group. Their relationship seems solid as a rock until Richard publishes his novel and Cass realizes he’s a sell-out. She doesn’t tell him, but her lost confidence and his inability to ask why she is distant derail their relationship. She starts seeing someone else. He finds out and wants to file for divorce. “Cass and Richard” is also not a country I want to visit.

Vivaldo & Ida

Our third couple is Vivaldo and Ida. Ida is Rufus’ sister, and Vivaldo is Rufus’ best friend. They come together after the tragedy of Rufus’ suicide. Vivaldo and Ida are more like Rufus and Leona than Cass and Richard. They don’t seem compatible, and they fight constantly. But they also love each other passionately. After a particularly rough fight with Ida, Vivaldo says, “How can you live if you can’t love? And how can you live if you do?” (340)¹

Vivaldo and Ida choose to make it work. This country is hard but feels more habitable than the others.

Yves & Eric

The final couple doesn’t have an ending. Yves and Eric meet in France, where they enjoy an ideal relationship marked by openness, affection, and romance. One day, Eric gets a dream call: a friend wants him to star in his play back in New York City. Eric is torn between staying with Yves and furthering his acting career. Yves, an optimistic young Frenchman, wants to join him, but Eric worries New York will destroy him.  

Baldwin lived for years in France and wrote most of his novels there, so I can see where this sentiment comes from. Eric does end up moving back to New York City, with Yves agreeing to join him in a few months. The book ends with Yves exiting an airplane and Eric waiting for him, smiling. Will their happy relationship continue in its new locale? This “country” is waiting to be explored.

Another Country is a dark book. But the darkness highlights the significance of this ray of sunshine at the end. Baldwin hasn’t given up on love. He doesn’t want us to either.

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¹Baldwin, James. Another Country. Dial Press, 1962.