The Undaunted by Alan L. Hart (1936)
1 Jun 2026 12:38 pmHappy Pride Month! In June I'll be reviewing media by trans and nonbinary creators.
Alan L. Hart (1890-1962) was one of the first trans men in the US to have gender-affirming surgery. He was a doctor himself and had an illustrious career in which he made major breakthroughs in our understanding of tuberculosis, and particularly the use of X-rays to diagnose it. He was also a successful fiction writer, publishing several short stories and four novels that drew on his experiences as a physician, which were well-received for their insights into the daily struggles and petty egos of the medical world.
His second novel, 1936's The Undaunted, follows Dr. Richard Cameron, who returns to civilian medical practice after serving in the Great War. He becomes fascinated by pernicious anemia, a condition that at the time has no known cause and no cure. He discovers an effective treatment, but to get his findings published and recognized he has to deal with lack of research funding, uncooperative patients, jealous rival doctors, egomaniacal laboratory heads, and greedy pharmaceutical companies. (Are we sure this was written 90 years ago?) Intertwined with his career are two important relationships: his love interest Judith, a university librarian whom he struggles to connect with because he's been hurt before, and his friend Dr. Sandy Farquhar, a radiologist who lives in fear of being outed as gay.
( cut for length )
Hart's books were out of print for decades, but his first two novels, Doctor Mallory and The Undaunted, were recently brought back into print by Propeller Books and are available through Bookshop.org. Funnily enough, Propeller's interest is not in early trans authors, but rather in Pacific Northwest authors—Hart practiced medicine in Oregon for some time, and both books are at least partly set there. Whatever works!
Alan L. Hart (1890-1962) was one of the first trans men in the US to have gender-affirming surgery. He was a doctor himself and had an illustrious career in which he made major breakthroughs in our understanding of tuberculosis, and particularly the use of X-rays to diagnose it. He was also a successful fiction writer, publishing several short stories and four novels that drew on his experiences as a physician, which were well-received for their insights into the daily struggles and petty egos of the medical world.
His second novel, 1936's The Undaunted, follows Dr. Richard Cameron, who returns to civilian medical practice after serving in the Great War. He becomes fascinated by pernicious anemia, a condition that at the time has no known cause and no cure. He discovers an effective treatment, but to get his findings published and recognized he has to deal with lack of research funding, uncooperative patients, jealous rival doctors, egomaniacal laboratory heads, and greedy pharmaceutical companies. (Are we sure this was written 90 years ago?) Intertwined with his career are two important relationships: his love interest Judith, a university librarian whom he struggles to connect with because he's been hurt before, and his friend Dr. Sandy Farquhar, a radiologist who lives in fear of being outed as gay.
( cut for length )
Hart's books were out of print for decades, but his first two novels, Doctor Mallory and The Undaunted, were recently brought back into print by Propeller Books and are available through Bookshop.org. Funnily enough, Propeller's interest is not in early trans authors, but rather in Pacific Northwest authors—Hart practiced medicine in Oregon for some time, and both books are at least partly set there. Whatever works!
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